


Shut Up and Drive

by shadowx_mac



Series: Dream SMP Racing AU [1]
Category: Dream SMP-Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Sleepy Boi Inc - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BAMF Niki | Nihachu, BAMF TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Illegal Activities, Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Protective Sam | Awesamdude, Racing AU, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Street Racing, The Racing au no one asked for but I'm giving anyways, They are all one big racing fam guys, They are illegal racing guys but it's fun, Tommy and Tubbo are best friends your honor, TommyInnit-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Twins Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, Wilbur and Techno are awkward siblings, but they are trying their best, drag racing, mostly atleast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29140269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowx_mac/pseuds/shadowx_mac
Summary: Tommy has been illegally drag racing with his friends Tubbo, Ranboo, Quackity for quite some time now, and he’s damn good at it. It’s one of the only things Tommy feels like he does right, and clearly he’s got to be good because he keeps winning the money. If it hadn’t been for the fact that His older brother Techno was in college most of the time and Wilbur hadn’t been so heavily in his academics he probably would have been caught a LONG time ago. When he gets the proposition to race Dream, the only other man who he had a competitive streak with, Dream decides to play dirty to win.Now Tommy’s brothers knows his secret, and he’s not pleased one bit about it.God Damn that Green homeless bastard
Relationships: ALL PLATONIC, No romantic interactions, found family - Relationship
Series: Dream SMP Racing AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2144838
Comments: 180
Kudos: 988





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Listen I’ve never raced before okay, so Idk if this is how this works out haha so don’t come at me for some kind of accuracy, I was listening to Party Poison by My Chemical Romance and this happened lmao
> 
> Also if anything seems Out of Character I’m sorry, I just started writing for them so I’m not as great at it as I would like to be Pff
> 
> I've been working on this while working on Requiem
> 
> Also if you guys really like this let me know if you would let to see some more stories in this AU!

Tommy considers himself to be a man of many talents, if you asked him he would probably say that he’s the best, a legend in the making. When you talk about his family however, Tommy can’t help but feel lackluster at best. Being brothers with the two most popular kids in the town is really _ fucking _ hard.

It’s not like Tommy wasn’t a popular guy himself, he had loads of friends, and was considered one of the friendliest people in their school. He made socializing look easy, with a contagious laugh and energy that just drew people to him like moths to a flame. If only he could get a grade in being a people person, his grades would be fucking  _ stellar _ . 

When you lined achievements up next to each other and asked who the most accomplished of the siblings would be in his family, Tommy would be dead last. 

There was his brother Wilbur, the curly haired brunette that was well liked and well loved, gifted in music and writing. His passion for storytelling and singing just added to how charming he was, everyone just constantly wanted to talk to him. Wilbur was just the guy you wanted to have around you.

Then there was Technoblade, the pink long haired guy who had gotten a  _ FULL _ scholarship into the college he had wanted. He was insanely intelligent and was always very laid back. He was calm and collected in almost all situations, would make witty and intriguing references to greek mythology and other famous writings, could recite information that he had only seen once like it was forever ingrained in his mind, and on top of all of that was the best in everything he did including fencing. Techno had picked the sport up mid-highschool and had excelled in it, it was one of the things that had secured his scholarship.

So not only could his brother beat the hell of out you with his brainpower but could also probably skewer you like a fucking marshmallow if he had wanted to. 

Their trophies and awards littered the house along with family photos.  _ World Fencing champion, Most Creative short story, Honor roll report cards, Most outstanding artist in the Music program. _ Techno had been Valedictorian for fucks sake when he had graduated and Wilbur was sure to win his when he moved on at the end of the year. Tommy knew there was no way in hell that he would do the same, not with his C barley B average (If he was lucky). 

What did Tommy have to show for his efforts in contribution to his family? A participation award for a science fair he had done one year with Tubbo. It was the bare minimum you got for just being registered in the thing. Besides that he had  _ nothing _ , the blonde couldn’t help but feel like he was an utter failure sometimes.

Tommy wanted to make his dad proud, he wanted to have something to put up there to show he had done something with himself. 

Phil reassured Tommy countless times that awards and trophies didn’t matter, that he loved and was proud of his son just for being himself. Tommy just couldn’t settle with that though, maybe he was enough for Phil but it wasn’t enough for himself, he also wanted to do something that would impress his brothers. 

He had tried so many times with so many different things, all he had really gotten was a smile and a ruffle of his hair from Wilbur that felt way too patronizing even if it hadn’t meant to come across as that. He couldn’t even get the bare minimum from his oldest brother, Techno would often just shrug and say “cool” or “great” in response. He was lucky to even get a response from him that didn’t sound sarcastic. 

Tommy hated it, hated that he felt like he had no purpose. It made him fall deeper into inner turmoil, much to the concern of his friends who also insisted they didn’t feel Tommy needed to have any of that stuff to be cool, because to them he already was. 

“Maybe you just need a hobby? You know, something you’d like to fill your time?” had been what his best friend Tubbo had suggested, Tommy had furrowed his eyebrows at him and scoffed. “Like what?” he said almost in an accusing tone, frowning even more when Tubbo shrugged in response. 

Ranboo who had been eating his sandwich in silence looked over to Tommy, “You could get a job, make money and it will keep you busy. That’s why I’ve been working part time at that book store down the road..” he offers softly. 

Tommy pondered it for a moment, “Maybe..I don’t know if I want some dumb job like that though, I want some kind of cool job. Something epic.” he says thoughtfully reaching over and stealing a tater tot from Tubbo’s lunch tray only to have his hand slapped two seconds later. 

“Aye dickhead! Why did you do that?!” he yelled, rubbing his hand, “Keep your hands off my tater tots!” Tubbo yelled back, narrowing his eyes at Tommy as he popped one of them in his mouth. 

Ranboo sighed and rolled his eyes, gently pushing his own tater tots towards Tommy for him to take.

“See, Ranboo is an actual decent human, not like you Asshole.” the blonde hums reaching over and taking the tater tot from Ranboo’s plate.

“No it’s because he’s too nice and humble and you take him for granted! Besides, you couldn’t even get a job like that until we started college, I don’t know of any cool places that would offer you a good job that paid well around here.” Tubbo exclaims gesturing loosely. 

Wilbur then came walking by the back of their table accompanied by Fundy, Reaching over and snatching a tater tot as well as he grins, clearly hearing the end of the conversation. “I think Toms needs to go back to preschool first, can’t get a job without some level of maturity first.” he says, giving Tommy’s hair a fond ruffle, effectively messing it up. 

Tommy turns around and scowls at his brother, flipping him off to the sound of Tubbo, Ranboo, and Fundy’s laughter. “Fuck off Wilbur!” he yells, earning a bad look from the lunch lady that makes him grumble and makes the others laugh even harder.

After that Tommy had basically given up on finding anything he was good enough at that his brother’s could not one up him in. 

Until he got introduced to racing.

Racing became his saving grace and escape. At first it was just a hobby, his friend Purpled had commented one day about him looking disheveled and then said that usually when he was stressed he went driving. 

“Well that’s nice for you jackass, but I haven’t driven in like a year, I don’t have a car.” Tommy said with a grumble, he had done the driving and could technically legally do it, but his family had insisted he was a horrible driver and therefore he was going to be last to get a car. 

Phil worked a lot and could barely afford it anyways, he made enough for bills with food and clothes for them, but they were in no way well off.

The only reason Techno had a car in the first place was because Phil needed him to cart around Wilbur and Tommy while he worked. Wilbur didn’t get one till much later when Techno needed to leave to get to classes around the same time Wilbur and Tommy needed to get to school so it was necessary.

It wasn’t that Tommy was complaining over it, yes it annoyed him at times that his brother needed to cart him around and refuse to let him drive because he “didn’t feel like having a brush with death”, but he understood that money was tight. 

Purpled had simply shrugged and grinned, “I don’t have a license or a car.” he had replied in such a way that it was enough to make Tommy look at him with suspicious eyes.

Purpled had taken him and introduced him to his friends Ponk and Sam, Sam was a mechanic that worked down the road in a more rural area of the city, he often let Purpled and Ponk hang out in his shop area while he worked, listening to them talk and bicker. 

Ponk had let Purpled borrow his old beat up Pontiac to drive around in the empty lot, he was getting a new car anyways and had planned to let Sam harvest the car for parts. Purpled could do whatever he wanted with it as long as he didn’t leave the dirt area, they didn’t legally want him out on the road without a license which was understandable. 

So Tommy and Purpled spent the rest of the night driving around and doing donuts in the dirt lot, and Tommy had really enjoyed it.

After that he couldn’t stop thinking about it, the high feeling he got when he could spin and drive around without much control placed on him. 

He and Purpled started going together often, even to the point where he would drag Tubbo there with them much to the brunette’s slight fear until he had actually seen Tommy drive. All three of the boys were surprised with how fast Tommy was able to pick up doing tricks, he could drift and spin with such ease like he was born and bred to do so.

Tommy had found something he was good at and enjoyed. 

The shop and dirt lot had sort of become a second home to him, Sam was happy to have him around, often taking some time to peek out the garage door to watch him. It wasn’t unusual to find a grin on his face as he watched Tommy cheer and laugh hysterically with Purpled in the passenger seat as they did donuts and drifted in the lot.

He even started coming late at night without Purpled and Tubbo, Sam had insisted he could come whenever he was up and Ponk said he would leave the keys out for him. It made it better that Tommy could also legally drive on the road, so when he couldn’t sleep he would come and either practice in the dirt lot which had become a bootleg track or would drive out on the street to escape his own thoughts and insomnia. 

Of course this meant he snuck out of the house sometimes in the night and wouldn’t come back til it was almost time for school in the morning which did mess with his sleep schedule but  _ fuck it,  _ Tommy thought it was worth being drowsy.

He was nervous about sneaking out at first but the only man that could really catch him was his oldest brother Techno, who stayed in the dorms for college except the weekends so that had taken him out of the equation. 

His dad was way too tired at night after work and was knocked out after his long shifts usually and was a pretty heavy sleeper. 

Wilbur was often too absorbed in his music with his headphones way too loud to even really notice. So it was kinda just free reign to Tommy at this point. 

One day after school while Tommy was driving around with Tubbo and Purpled, he noticed Sam and Ponk watching them which wasn’t out of the ordinary except they were accompanied by a girl with pink hair and someone with brown curly hair and black shades. 

When they stopped Sam waved them over with a grin, and that’s how he was introduced to Niki Nihachu and Eret, two people who ran sort of an underground drag race syndicate. They raced around with usually big pools of betting money and whoever won they’re weekly races would get the cash. 

They asked him if he would maybe be interested in racing for cash, then Tommy got introduced to racing and the gang, he met so many of the people he considered really close friends and had found his calling. 

Tommy had come in the topping ranks of their racing division along with Tubbo who had become his co-pilot. Accompanied by his friends and his chariot, the busted up Pontiac that Ponk had given him for his own as a present that Sam promptly fixed and suped up (Stating he wasn’t going to let the boy race with something so trashed because it would be dangerous, Tommy had offered to pay him back but Sam refused). He started winning more than he could really count on his own hand. 

The cash was nice but Tommy was really never in it for that.

He racked up the green paper, he would usually halve off and split with Tubbo who had protested at first saying he didn’t need it, but Tommy felt like Tubbo deserved it since he was co-piloting with him and did most of the crucial shifting while Tommy drove. It still left him with a decent amount though, the higher ranked he was the more cash he usually built up from the betting pool so it wasn’t like he was losing much. 

He had to make up a lie to explain for where he was going in the day after school, managing to talk Ranboo into vouching that he had gotten a job at the bookstore with him down the road so if Tommy didn’t reach his phone while he was racing his dad could call Ranboo and he would explain. 

He knew he was causing his friend unnecessary stress and felt bad for it but this was the best way to keep up what he was doing a secret.

Wilbur would drop him off at the bookstore and Tommy would run down to Sam’s shop, pick up his car, and then go get Tubbo and meet his friends down at the track. 

After his last most recent race against Jschlatt, Tommy was on a big winning streak and running on the sweet feeling of finally being valued in something and by people he felt understood him. 

He later got approached by Dream and his own team, George and Sapnap.The man in the green hoodie and the mask with an almost taunting smiley face on the front of his car, he propositioned Tommy to a race. 

It was big, Dream was one of if not the best top racer next to Tommy. It would probably be one of the biggest the group had seen so far, with a high cash prize and the real title of best racer in the league.

Dream was the only one who could really compete with Tommy, this felt like it was going to be the biggest event of his life, and he couldn’t even tell his family about it. Even if Tommy felt like he was a little in over his head of course in true Tommyinnit fashion, he accepted. 

So here he was at the track chilling with his friends and the huge crowd of others that usually turned up to the races in addition to the people who had come strictly for the event. Niki and Eret had built up quite the crowd of people over the time they had been doing and hosting the drag racing, it was sizable and filled with excitement. It was always a party during these events, they usually all hung out and moshed afterwards too. 

Tommy was leaning on his car with Tubbo, Quackity another racer they had met who had previously co-raced with Jschlatt and now just raced on his own, he had quickly become a close friend of Tommy and Tubbos. Ranboo, who he had been convinced (Maybe even forced) to come down for the race to be in the back of the car and experience it for once. Niki and Skeppy, another good friend of there’s who usually wasn’t seen without his partner Bad Boy Halo (Who was riding in with the Dream Team today) was also there, trying to kill time as they all stood in anticipation. 

Tommy hadn’t been nervous, if anything he was more excited, and it only grew as he saw Dream’s familiar black and green car pull up. 

Dream, Sapnap, George, and Bad exited the car and walked over to greet them and say hello. A familiar yell of “S’Geppy!” was heard as the man with a black and red hoodie with a familar pair of devil horns stitched into them darted over. Bad greeted his best friend with a tight hug that Skeppy returned with a chuckle and an affectionate “Hi Bad” in return. Sapnap and Quackity instantly started bantering loudly much to the annoyance of George, who lowered his goggle glasses onto his face while everyone else watched in amusement.

“So are we going to start this big man or what?” Tommy asked with a shit eating grin as Dream leaned back against his own car. 

“In a sec, I have a whole group of people coming so I wanna wait for them to show.” the green eyed man gave him a mischievous look that gave Tommy a sinking feeling he couldn’t quite explain.

“Awe are you stalling Dream? Is someone a little nervous about facing my friend here that you need extra people for backup?” Quackity taunted in the way he knew best, throwing an arm around Tommy with his own cheeky expression. 

“Yeah right, more like he’s waiting for more people to be witness to him kicking Tommy’s ass.” Sapnap fired back with just as much energy sticking a tongue out at Quackity that got him flipped off by the beanie wearing man. 

“You can have as many people as you want here Dream, we ARE going to win either way, no matter who the hell you bring, it’s not going to change that.” Tommy bites back earning a grin from the others around him at the reassuring confidence he has. Tommy just has that effect on people when he’s in his element. 

Dream snorted and eyeing the blonde child in front of him, “We’ll see…” he said with a smugness and a hint of something else Tommy really couldn’t read in his voice. 

“Yes we will, I’m going to go up and start piling people into the stands, don’t want anyone getting run over. Goodluck boys!” Niki says with a grin, her pink hair swishing with her, turning around to start gathering up and guiding the crowd towards the metal stands they have set up not too far from the track. 

“Come on Skeppy we should help her.” Bad said cheerfully, beginning to drag the blue haired boy towards the stands, 

“Awe what, I don’t want to help with that Bad!” Skeppy groaned in annoyance before being shushed and elbowed by Bad for being rude. 

“Maybe I should go help too-” Ranboo said quickly, trying to follow Niki only to be stopped by Tubbo grabbing his sleeve and dragging him back to the group. 

“Oh no, you said you would race with us Ranboo!” the brunette snorts. 

“Don’t tell me you're starting to have seconds thoughts Ranboo, you're wounding me deeply.” Tommy said with mock offense, dramatic enough to put a hand to his chest. 

Ranboo frowns, “I’m not trying to make it personal! I just think I would rather watch you take the win from the stands and not from  _ inside  _ the car. I can be emotional support from there!” he tries to counter but Quackity laughs and the two-toned haired man’s arm. 

“Come on Ranboo!! Tommy will have plenty of support from the stands, but he needs you in there with him, you aren’t gonna let him down are you?” Quackity says also in a joking dramatic way. 

“Yeah Ranboo we’ll die without you!” Tubbo adds with pleading eyes. 

Ranboo hums in apprehension, “Ughh okay okay, will you stop with that! It makes me feel like I’ve done something wrong.” He says as his friends cheer in rejoice.

Meanwhile Dream, Sapnap, and George seemed to be chatting amongst themselves, the glint in their eyes that spelled trouble hadn’t left yet.

“This was not a good idea Dream..What if you mess things up between them..” George mumbles looking to be the only one who isn’t sure of whatever plan Dream has whipped up.

“It’s all in good fun, Gogy relax!” Sapnap said patting the goggled wearing boy on the shoulder. 

“We’re allowed to play dirty George, besides you don’t even know if they will actually show up, it's not really their scene anyways..” Dream says with a casual shrug but George has a horrible feeling about this that he can’t shake. 

“You're not planning on slashing my tires are you? I’ll bill you for them if you do and any other dent you put on my girl.” Tommy says, narrowing his bright blue eyes at the man.

Dream laughs, “I don’t need to cheat to win Tommy, besides “your girl” is shit looking anyways.” he sneers obviously trying to push the blonde’s buttons.

Tommy’s mouth flies open in offense, looking like he’s ready to fight Dream instead of race. “You take that back you homeless green bastard! My girl looks gorgeous and runs like new, I’ll key my name into your shitty ride!” he points, gesturing crudely with his keys towards Dream’s car. 

The conversation and trash talking seems to lightened the mood for a minute, everyone looks genuinely ready for the race. Their expressions of determination and excitement were a silent promise that this was going to be good. 

That is til a group of cars pulled up, momentarily distracting everyone and catching their attention. 

“Took them long enough..” Dream mumbled his grin growing more into a smirk as he got up off his car and walked over, Sapnap following behind shouting a loud “AYEEE” to the people who were obviously his friends. George on the other hand didn’t look as happy about the crowd, walking over to interact with his arms crossed. 

The crowd joked and laughed for a bit til they started filling over to the stands with everyone else. Tommy was starting to get antsy at this point, as if Dream wanted to drag out as long as possible to rile him up.

He keeps his cool until he hears the names of two people he had never thought he would in this area.    
  


“Aye Wilbur Soot Technoblade, Thanks for coming!!” 

Tommy’s head snaps towards the crowd where Dream is, his voice with that same smugness from earlier, as he sees the green hooded man clasping hands with his middle brother while his eldest spares him an acknowledged nod. 

Sapnap grins while George grimaces looking over at Tommy with almost a sympathetic expression. Everyone knew Tommy’s family had no idea he was doing this, so this was a low blow.

In their defence Tommy had never really mentioned who his older brothers were, afraid it would take away from his own racing.

If they had been accidentally invited Tommy would understand, but with the expression George was giving him this felt way too calculated. Tommy was still currently trying to understand how Dream, Sapnap, and Gogy had found out who his siblings were, much the less their attempts to sabotage him.

This is maybe the first time Tommy has ever been rendered speechless, his mouth falling open slightly as he stared, his brain going completely blank. 

Wilbur is listening to Dream speak with a small smile on his face, Techno on the other hand is starting to survey the crowd. 

The pink haired tall man takes in the entire area, his eyes drift and catch on a jacket that looks strangely like the one Wilbur had handed down to their younger brother Tommy.

He remembers Tommy begging Wilbur for the beat up trench coat after Wilbur had gotten a new one for his birthday. Wilbur finally gave it to him even though he had insisted the thing had too many holes and should just be thrown away. 

Tommy had gotten some sort of sentimental attachment to the thing which Wilbur had secretly found adorable, he hadn’t shared that thought with Tommy though knowing the boy would literally murder him. 

Tommy had mended the holes up top with help and cut off the bottom of it keeping it about waste length. He had painted a big portion of it red and left the sleeves the brown color they were originally and had spent extra time learning how to sew so he could put patches on it.

He would have hot glued them but Techno had told him they wouldn’t be durable and would probably fall off if he wasn’t careful.

Tommy had come down the next day fingers covered in bandages from sticking himself so many times with the needle but he had been satisfied with the outcome. Parading around in the thing like it was designer. 

Techno had thought it was hideous at first, but the thing had grown on him, now it was a Tommy signature. He never went anywhere without it.

Furrowing his eyebrow he looks up, and locks eyes with a blonde boy that is definitely his brother. His eyes widen slightly however his expression stays mostly neutral, “Tommy?..” he calls questioningly, face morphing from being taken aback to confused as his gaze drifts between Tommy, his friends, and the car behind him. 

At the mention of Tommy’s name Wilbur turns to look at Techno with a confused look, before looking to where he is staring.

Wilbur on the other hand is not as contained as Techno is, his mouth falls open before shutting looking at him with wide eyes shifting between Techno and Tommy as if he’s trying to confirm the man is also seeing him.

Techno nods slowly to confirm Wilbur’s look.

Wilbur looks back at the younger blonde before starting to shuffle towards him at a fast pace.

“Tommy!” 

Ah shit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy was a little screwed, but it's all Dream's fault
> 
> He really hopes he even gets a chance to race before his brothers kill him

In theory, this should have been an easy plan and a nice night.

Techno was going to come home early for the weekend, Wilbur would come and pick Tommy up from work that day, they would meet at the home where they could do a movie night.

Bam family bonding achieved.

No, of course because it’s  _ their _ family nothing can go completely to plan, there had to be some kind of conflict.

Phil had thought a little brother bonding would do them some good, they had all been a little concerned for Tommy lately. 

He just seemed so distant and so busy, the kid was always on his way out somewhere, whether that was going to work or on his way to a study group which just seemed very unlike him in general.

Their father had pulled Wilbur aside after he had thought Tommy had gone up to sleep and asked if Wilbur thought the youngest in the family was doing alright. 

Wilbur had replied saying he thought Tommy was fine, until he had really thought about it, was Tom okay?

Wilbur had barely seen him in the past months besides at school or when he dropped him off and took him places. 

Now that he had thought about it he hadn’t spoken much to his brother either.

Usually Tommy would come to bug him about something but recently he hadn’t.

Wilbur hadn’t realized how much he had missed Tommy bursting into his room until the boy hadn’t done it for a while. 

He hadn’t talked much to Techno either, maybe because anytime Techno did come home Tommy just wouldn’t be there. It was getting to the point where Techno had to work around Tommy’s schedule so he could come home to see or say hello to his brother. Which had not been the case before.

Techno knew he and Tommy didn’t have nowhere as close of a relationship as he and Wilbur did, but that didn't mean they didn’t have any kind of bond at all. 

Techno wouldn’t admit that it was starting to pester him that he didn’t see Tommy anymore, it was a real downer most of the time.

Tommy definitely brought up the atmosphere whenever he was around. 

Techno was so used to growing up around chaos with Tommy as a brother, now he missed the constant yelling and buzzing around. It made him feel strange with the house being so quiet.

It wasn’t like they had pretended also to not see Tommy looking at the awards wall with a glare like the thing was mocking him.

After they had caught him doing it a couple times, Wilbur thought back to the conversation he had walked into that one time where Tommy had been talking about getting a job. 

He had teased him for it at the time, but now he was wondering if Tommy felt the need to do so to prove something to the family. 

All 3 of the men hoped that was really not the case, Phil had always worried Tommy might feel inferior, but he just hoped that wouldn’t morph to Tommy’s self confidence.

The last thing any of them wanted Tommy to feel was that he wasn’t good enough.

Though it wasn’t like they had helped him feel otherwise really, another thing they really needed to work on.

So the two had jumped at the idea of a movie night hoping they could try to give some sort of reassurance to Tommy that he was doing just fine and shouldn’t feel the need to push himself.

They also did just want to hang out with their younger brother, sue them.

Phil promised he would join as soon as he could get off of work, and with the promise that all of them could spend some sort of family time together the boys were determined to make it work and make it a fun surprise that they hoped Tommy would be down for.

It had been going well at first, Wilbur and Techno had stopped by a place to get snacks for the next night's activities at Wilbur’s recommendation so they wouldn’t have to do it tomorrow. Unfortunately they ran into Dream and Sapnap, who both seemed to be restocking up on what they said was a “huge stash of monster reserves” aka poison that would probably soon cart them into an early grave. It couldn’t be healthy in the slightest.

Techno knew Dream better then Wilbur did, the two had gone to school together and were good acquaintances at best. They didn’t roam around the same crowds at all but the two had definitely crossed paths several times. The two really hadn't spoken until Techno had needed some help for something relatively important and Dream had pitched in when he needed it which led to Techno telling him he owed him a favor and whenever he needed it to let him know. 

Wilbur on the other hand had only encountered Dream on a couple different occasions but hadn’t exchanged many words with him. He had heard enough of Dream’s reputation and about how he was personally from friends but that was pretty much it.

They had really only intended to exchange greetings and then be on their way but Dream had been the one to go off into conversation as Wilbur observed Sapnap pile different flavors of energy drinks into his arms.

Techno tried to make small talk, Wilbur contributing on and off when he felt he could because he didn’t want to seem rude as he also piled snacks into his arms. Until Dream brought up the race. 

“Well you know how I’m still doing the racing thing?” he asked as Sapnap gave him half the pile of energy drinks when it was clear if he didn’t, Nick would most likely drop them.

“Oh yeah you mentioned it awhile ago, and if I remember correctly I told you sooner or later you were going to get arrested.” Techno mused raising an eyebrow.

Dream rolls his eyes and adjusts his face mask that’s covering his nose and mouth.

He had always worn the damn thing even in their school pictures, he had committed to whatever aesthetic that was.

Techno had always teased that his whole getup made him look homeless as opposed to cool or “Grungy '', whatever he had phrased it as. No one had ever seen Dream’s actual home so the joke had stuck. It had become an on running joke between the two and a couple other friends, because money wise Dream was well off from racing.

“Haven’t got caught yet have I? But  _ anyways _ , Tomorrow I’m doing this huge race with this other guy that’s pretty good and I’m inviting a lot of people to come watch. Usually it’s pretty sick and we always hang and party afterwards. You should come and check it out, you too Wilbur.” Dream says with a mischievous tone in his voice that made the Watson siblings distrustful of him. It made it sound like he was up to something.

Sapnap looked over at him at the invite with a questioning look in his eyes, “Dude-” he starts but Dream places a hand on his shoulder and gives him a pointed expression right back. Sapnap blinks back at him before walking towards the checkout counter, Techno swears he hears a “alright, but it’s your funeral.” come from the other's mouth which causes him to raise an eyebrow.

“Your buddy there doesn’t make that sound like something I want to do.” the pink haired man crosses his arms as Wilbur also gives Dream the same skeptical stare.

Dream waves a hand in a dismissive way, “Forget him, Sapnap doesn’t think before he speaks sometimes.” Dream grumbles shooting a glare towards the brunette.

Sapnap sticks out his tongue and flips him off in return. 

“Also why are we wasting our time coming to watch you drive through the dirt? We already have plans anyways..” Wilbur is probably coming off way harsher than he means to, but they had made the commitment to spend time with their brother and he didn’t want to deviate from that plan. 

Dream shrugs nonchalantly, “Clearly you’ve never seen a drag race if you think it’s just me racing through dirt- but whatever you two wanna do..You don’t have to stay the whole time, just come and check it out. I’m telling you, you’re not gonna regret it later. Plus a lot of the people we went to school with are coming too Techno.” you can tell he’s grinning from under his mask.

Sapnap looks over and rolls his eyes, “Come on Dream, We told George we would meet him like 30 minutes ago and we still have to pay.” he calls, sounding impatient.

Dream sighs and starts making his way over to where Sapnap is, though he turns back to eye them for a moment, “Just think about it, you have my number, text me if you want the details.” he calls in their direction before leaving. 

Techno and Wilbur stand there in silence for a moment before Wilbur hands his brother several bags of chips.“Why did it sound like he’s planning to murder us?” the brunette grumbles making Techno snort. 

“Because he’s Dream- Wilbur this is a lot of stuff, I’m  _ not _ paying for this.” Techno looks down at the massive pile of junk food he and Wilbur are collectively holding. 

Wilbur pivots on his feet giving him a beaming grin, “Techno it’s for the sake of family bonding, you’ll thank me later!” he says in a teasing voice before turning back and walking towards the checkout line himself.

“My wallet won’t be. You are paying me back for some of this.” Techno grumbled right back, even though he knew that was not going to be the case. They didn’t really chat more about possibly going to the race until much later.

Techno and Wilbur were originally not going to go, but Tommy didn’t get off work till around 5 which meant they had time to kill, as much as Wilbur did not seem exactly thrilled to hang out with people he didn’t know well he thought why not. Techno wasn’t excited either, but it was something to do.

So Techno had ended up texting Dream for the address and time and figured they would just drop by, watch the race for a bit, and then dip. They really hadn’t known what to expect, but this was definitely what they thought would be going down tonight.

Everything got derailed by the discovery that their brother was  _ not _ at work like Wilbur thought he was, but here, at an illegal drag race. Turning out to be the guy they had come to watch Dream attempt to beat. 

_ What kind of fucking twist was that? _

The minute Wilbur had called out his name Tommy had turned around, his arms quickly latching onto the shirts of the two people closest to him which just happened to be Quackity and Tubbo.

“Tommy?-” Tubbo asked in confusion as to why his best friend currently had a death grip on his top. 

“ _ Tubbo Ranboo _ , I’m going to need you both to quickly turn and look behind us, but under no circumstances are either of you to let your gazes linger, understood?” Both of the blonde’s friends exchange concerned glances with each other at the serious tone of Tommy’s voice.

“O..kay?...” Ranboo replied with newfound fear finding its way into his voice, Ranboo and Tubbo quickly turned their heads.

For a moment they had no idea what they were supposed to be searching for until they spotted two people trying to navigate through the crowd at a quick pace. “Tommy!” one of the people called again sounding vaguely familiar. Both Ranboo and Tubbo’s eyes widened as they turned back seeming to realize who the people were.

“I- is that Wilbur and Techno?!” Ranboo asks, sounding like he’s just seen a ghost. Tommy nods looking both scared shitless and pissed, he starts to walk in a quick pace back towards his car where he and his friends had walked over to talk to the Dream Team. The group followed him in pursuit closely, both Tubbo and Ranboo looking visibly afraid while Quackity just looked confused and mildly disturbed.

“Oh Shit wait, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade right? Those are the two gifted kids everyone around town is always rambling about. Damn I didn’t think they would show up to a place like this, why is it such a big issue that they are here?” Quackity asks blinking at his three friends like they are majorly overreacting. 

He’s ignored momentarily as Tubbo stutters, “What are they doing here?!” in a loud whisper sounding just as on edge as Ranboo does. 

“I don’t fucking know?! Why don’t you go ask Dream, I reckon he’ll give you an answer! Or better yet why don’t you go ask Wilbur and Techno because I would  _ LOVE _ to know, just preferably in a far distance from them. That Green bastard is trying to sabotage me!” Tommy yells back in a low tone trying to keep his voice down.

Ranboo puts his head in his hands gripping at his hair, “We are so royally screwed, they are going to tell our parents and then we are fucking dead!” he sounded like he was practically close to tears. He couldn’t get in trouble with his parents, if they found out he was somewhere that could get him arrested they would be furious with him. 

“Woah woah woah amigos, chill out, they don’t seem like people who will snitch. We’ll just talk to them later, no big deal.” Quackity reassures confidently trying to calm his friends.    
  


Tommy stops walking and sighs pinching the bridge of his nose before grabbing Quackity’s shoulders. “Big Q...Those are my brothers.” he says after a moment staring at his beanie wearing friend with a serious expression. 

Quackity blinked at him, processing what Tommy was telling him before his eyes widened, his gaze shifting back and forth between the blonde in front of him and Wilbur and Technoblade. “Those are your brothers.” he repeats what Tommy has said to him,Tommy nods in confirmation and Quackity absolutely loses his shit.    
  


“Wilbur Soot and Technoblade are your brothers! Tommy what the fuck?! WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOMETHING?!” he yells, grabbing Tommy’s shoulders and shaking him. Tommy pushes his hands off and shushes him loudly glaring at him with daggers.    
  


“Shut the fuck up and just tell everyone why don’t ya! I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want it to affect my racing. Now stop screaming and everyone get in the ponti before my brothers come and collectively kick my ass and all of yours for being associated.” Tommy says through gritted teeth pushing his friends rapidly towards his vehicle. 

The three stop talking and shuffle to Tommy’s car, jumping in as fast as they can manage. Tubbo takes shotgun per usual as he’s Tommy’s co-pilot while Ranboo and Quackity get in the back. Quackity nearly falling on top of Ranboo as he had jumped into the car and flimsily rushed to close the door.

Everyone buckles quickly except for Tommy who insists there is no time as he shoves the key in the ignition, starting up his car he quickly goes to turn when he finds he can’t.    
  


“Tubbo take the fucking parking break off, GO GO GO!!” the blonde all but shrieks at his friend.

“I’M GOING I’M GOING” Tubbo yells back pushing the parking break up frantically and shifting it into gear. 

Tommy gives it gas and quickly turns, driving forward to line up at the starting line while Ranboo yells at him for not wearing a seatbelt and Quackity screams for him to floor it while staring out the back of the car. It’s a lot of chaos in one closed area but Tommy thrives in chaos. Thankfully he’s able to focus and not crash as they get where they need to be for the race to start.

“Enjoy the race boys!” Dream calls to Wilbur and Techno before taking the chance to grab both George and Sapnap so he can get back to their car without getting his ass beat right there by both of the Watson boys. 

George frowns at him as they climb into the car, reaching over and smacking both Dream and Sapnap hard on the arm.

“Owe George what the fuck!” Sapnap yelps rubbing the spot where he was struck from the back seat.

“You two are soo  _ stupid _ , I told you this was a horrible idea! Techno and Wilbur are going to kill you! So will Sam if he finds out you did this.” George sets his face into his hands, pushing his goggle glasses up onto his forehead.

“I was not apart of that! Dream is the one that told them to come!” Sapnap pouts, shooting George a glare as he still rubs the place where George smacked him.

Dream sighs and buckles his seatbelt, pulling up to the starting line next to Tommy’s car, “It will be fine George, everyone always plays dirty here. All is fair in the race.” he also utters with an annoyed tone of voice, he doesn’t like that George is irritated with him for a joke.

George glares back up at him, “Fine, when they beat the shit out of you, I don’t want to hear any whining. It will be entirely  _ your _ fault Clay.” The brunette lowers his glasses back onto his eyes and pokes him hard in the shoulder as he reaches for his own buckle.

Dream shrugs, absentmindedly fixing his mask, “Nahh I’ve known Techno for awhile, the most he’ll do is yell at me, he won’t kill me.” he says though there is a slight apprehension in his voice. 

Meanwhile the pink haired man is considering taking a crowbar to the black and green vehicle, staring at the smiley face like it’s mocking him. “I’m going to kill him.” Techno sneers looking at the car and the people inside with such a murderous glare. 

They are at the front of the stands at this point and are making their way down them as fast as they can.

“Kill him later, we kill Tommy first before he manages to get himself in a fucking accident.” Wilbur yells, grabbing Techno’s arm and dragging him down the stands faster towards where Tommy is obviously avoiding eye contact with him from his car. Wilbur also takes note of Ranboo and Tubbo who he had noticed earlier which had almost shocked him more than Tommy. Some strange man in a beanie was staring back at them from the back of Tommy’s care but there’s no real time to think about that. They needed to stop Tommy before the race started.

By the time they get to the stairs that lead down to the actual track, a boy they had seen earlier with devil horns attached to his hoodie puts an arm in front of them to stop Wilbur and Techno from going any further.

“Hey sorry, you guys can’t go down there until the race is finished it’s dangerous. If you guys want a closer look though we are also hooking up those big projector screens you see and streaming from cameras so everyone can watch.” The guy’s voice is almost painfully cheery as he offers them a very warm and welcoming smile.

Wilbur might have appreciated that if not for the circumstances, this was younger brother, no one was going to get in the way of him protecting Tommy.

“That’s my brother in that car right there, who by the way is still  _ a minor _ , if this is as dangerous as your saying it is then he should not be in there, especially with his friends who are also not of legal age. Either get out of my way and let us get them or I’ll just move you.” Wilbur yells right in the man’s face which makes both Techno and the guy jump. Even Wilbur is a little surprised at his outburst, but this was for Tommy. 

Techno narrows his eyes, trying to look as intimidating as he can, hoping that maybe it will be enough to scare the guy so there’s no need to get into a fight. He would prefer to leave this place without anyone getting injured or needing to make a quick trip to the hospital. Phil would kill them. 

The intimidation seems to work a bit as the guy backs up slightly creating more distance between the three of them but his arm doesn’t move. He doesn’t look as scared as he looks confused, “brother?” he echoes looking from them back behind him towards the cars. 

He blinks and seems to realize who they are, his mouth falls open slightly, “Oh muffins...that’s not good- Skeppy! Could you come here please!” he calls his eyes drifting up towards the blue haired boy who was a couple bleachers up, giving them a nervous chuckle as they stare back down at him with not pleasant expressions. 

The guy who appeared to be named Skeppy came walking down with his hands in his own jacket’s pockets. Looking at Techno and Wilbur with cautious and protective eyes once he saw how nervous his friend seemed.

“Everything okay Bad?” he asked hesitantly, reaching out of his pocket and grabbing Bad’s arm. Tugging Bad behind him trying to create some distance between his partner and the two towering men in front of them. 

Bad clears his throat anxiously fiddling with his fingers as he peaked out from behind Skeppy, “Uh Skeppy, these two here are um...Tommy’s brothers..and they seem to have a problem with this event..” he explains trying to not stutter out the words still keeping a smile on his face but it now looks more uncomfortable than welcoming.

“A _ problem _ ?..” Techno says with a dangerous tone in his voice looking at the two 

“What- ohhh…” Skeppy blinks trailing off looking up at Wilbur and Techno, his expression morphing into the same nervous and discomfort as Bad wears on his own face. Anxiously laughing as he scratched the back of his neck. “He was planning on doing this whole thing to tell you guys- but uhh guess that’s not happening now…” Skeppy clears his throat looking to be stalling for time. 

Wilbur and Techno both blink at Skeppy with deep frowns, Wilbur opens his mouth to demand once again that they let them through when some generic rock instrumental music started playing through some loud speakers causing some excitement in the crowd behind them.

The two large projector screens behind them power up, one flashing to the two cars parked at the starting line in front of them, while the other was compiled of a bunch of boxes which seemed to be on other sides of the track. 

The music fades a bit in the couple of the speakers set up around the place, a voice sounding out from them.

**_“HEY EVERYONE! WELCOME TO THE BIGGEST DAMN RACE OF THE SEASON!!”_ ** it causes all attention in the front of the stands to look towards the announcement table that was obviously in a safety box built close to the track just next to the bottom of the bleachers.

The man announcing was dressed in a colorful hoodie with a spiral in the front of it, had brown hair, and a pair of headphones with a mic. He had a beaming smile that you could feel the energetic excitement from even far away. Next to him sat a girl with pink hair, the Watson brothers were sure they had seen earlier when they had shown up, Wilbur on the other hand was sure he had seen her elsewhere before, though he couldn’t place it. 

The announcer man nearly bounds out of his seat with energy, “ **_I am, as always, your race caller Karl. The man that explains it for all you nimrods that can’t keep up! I’m talking about you Sapitus Napitus, everyone Sapnap! He’s the ugly looking dork in the backseat of the Green car”_ ** the man named Karl calls through laughs. The girl next to him doubles over and laughs though you can’t hear it, it appears her mic it off. 

Shrill laughing can be heard from the back of Tommy’s car even though the windows are rolled up, the back seat window of Dream’s car rolls down and a loud, “ _ FUCK YOU JACOBS! _ ” can be heard before it’s rolled up again to the sound of wheezing laughter.

“ **_Yeah Yeah, last time I checked there were no askers. As you may have noticed for those who come to our events regularly my usual co-hosts are nowhere to be found, today I am joined by one of our wonderful event organizers Niki Nihachu! Niki thank you for hosting the big day with me.”_ ** Karl applauded while Niki raised a finger to turn on her headset, a giggle echoing out from the speakers.

**_“Yeah Karl happy to help, I’m so excited to see who takes home the win.”_ ** she says matching the excited grin on Karl’s face.

Just as Niki finishes speaking a figure with brown curly hair and a pair of heart shades, strutting out in what appears to be a pair of black stiletto heels. Clicking noises echoing against the track as the person walks out holding about 10 huge wads of cash, raising them up for the audience to see.

**_“So am I, as we know this race has been a long time coming. It was only a matter of time before these honking lunatics had a chance to race each other- There it is folks! As you can see our good pal Eret is out there showing off the prize that could be our racers if they take home the glory today! If I’m right Niki this is one of the biggest prizes we’ve ever offered up from the betting pool right?”_ ** Karl looks over to Niki with a grin as Niki nods her eyes lighting up with a spark of life that was also infectious.

“ **_Yep! We’re throwing in all the stalks today for this race. Also for anyone else who is looking to participate, we also hold regular betting pools where you can bet on who you think might win and then you too might have the chance to take home some cash.”_ ** Niki smiles, pointing from the table down to the other end of the stands where a man with a gold chain is standing by his own small table talking to another tall man with Green hair who looks to have some grease on his face. Next to them is a smaller man with a red and yellow looking ski mask.

**_“Yeah, if you're feeling lucky and confident in who you're rooting for, give our guy Punz over there a visit and maybe you’ll leave richer too. I’d go cast your bets fast though, because we are gearing to start in just a moment. I have to ask though because it’s customary, Niki who are you rooting for today?”_ ** Karl says with anticipation clapping his hands together.

The green haired man moves from the table over on the other end of the bleachers down to where the cars are, walking over to each of their windows and leaning in to talk to them before popping their hoods seeming to be doing quick checks of the integrity of the cars. 

**_“Well..I’m kinda biased, I work with both people but I gotta go with Tommyinnit.”_ ** Niki says laughing as Dream looks over at her from the car window feigning sadness.

**_“OHHH! See what you’ve done Niki you’ve wounded him! So you're rooting for our resident gremlin. I don’t know Niki, I would agree but Dream has been on his game recently. We can’t count Tommy out, after his most recent victory against Schlatt we’ve seen that this kid can do extraordinary things when presented with the chance. This really is the race of the decade! King Kong versus Godzilla! And we are here to witness it.”_ ** Karl leans back in his chair as he dramatically sets the scene. Niki hums in agreement, crossing one of her legs over the other as she too leans back to watch. 

The green haired man closes both of the car’s hoods, looking back to the announce table and shooting them a thumbs up, before walking back to his place at the end of the bleachers. 

**_“We’ve gotten the okay from our Mechanic Sam that both of our racers are good to go! It’s getting to that time everyone, are you all ready to have this kick off?!”_ ** The crowd cheers and whoops with enthusiasm as everyone stands up getting ready for the race to start. 

Eret walks back out into the track, stopping in the middle of the two cars a little ahead of them holding two flags. They almost look to be posing, it would make for some great ass pictures. 

**_“Okay! Let’s get it started! In our first car we have our original champ, he’s been dominating these races for awhile, the green boy that plasters smiley faces everywhere, we have DREAM!!”_ ** Karl gestures out as the crowd gets loud, some throwing their fists in the air while others just scream obnoxiously.

**_“Accompanying them is his usual co-pilot, the one with the glasses who are definitely going out of trend George and their dogwater friend Sappy Nap!”_ ** Both boys glare at Karl from their spot in the car.

**_“In our next car we have our underdog, he recently came to the racing syndicate and has been doing nothing but destroying people and impressing others since. The kid who is so loud it’s almost annoyingly entertaining to watch, Tommyinnit!!”_ ** Tommy’s window rolls down in nearly record breaking speeds.

“Dickhead, I am _ NOT _ a child!!” the blonde shouts as Karl laughs.

**_“See what I mean guys! With him we have our bee boy, his co-pilot Tubbo. Along with their good friend Ranboo who has seemed to have been forced to come to this endeavor and my good friend, my usual co-host, Quackity!”_ ** Quackity claps and cheers from the back. Ranboo looks to be burying his face into his hands not wanting to be seen, while Tommy and Tubbo both grin looking forward towards Eret with newfound determination on their face, seeming to forget the situation they were in just a few minutes prior. They needed to focus.

**_“Count us out Eret!”_ ** Karl waves towards him signaling for them to go. Eret gives a small nod to him before raising both the flags, both boys start up their cars. The roaring noises of the engines seem to pump up the crowd more as it’s officially time to start. 

“Alright boys, I won’t keep you too long because I know you all wanna get this show on the road. You know the rules, all is fair game here in our races, we play survival of the fastest here so you can do what you have to do to get yourselves over that finish line. _ Cheat _ , Drive dirty, but absolutely no killing each other or crashing. I am  _ not _ pulling your dead bodies from those cars. We understand each other, yeah?” Eret looks to both Tommy and Dream who nod at him. 

Techno and Wilbur on the other hand from the stands have seemed to become more alarmed at Eret’s words. 

Dream looks over to Tommy, you don’t even have to see the smirk on his face to know it’s there, “Good luck Tommy.” he calls out sounding way too patronizing for the blonde’s tastes.

Tommy narrows his eyes back at him and grins, “You can fuck right off, I hope you crash big man.” he yells back, though there is a slightly teasing tone to his voice. 

Dream chuckles and looks back towards the road, setting one hand on his wheel and leaning the other one against his window. He looks calm and relaxed like he knows he’s got this before they’ve even started.

It pisses Tommy off a bit, causing the boy to clutch his wheel with both of his hands and stare ahead with fire in his stare. He takes a deep breath, trying to get himself in the zone, “Let’s kick his ass guys.” Tommy replies, sparing a glance at Tubbo who nods, grinning back at him with just as intense of a gaze. The brunette sets his hand on the shift looking ready to go.

“LET’S GO BOYS, WE’RE POPPING OFF!” Quackity yells chuckling with almost a mischievous nature to his voice, rubbing his hands together with an eagerness to get this started even though he isn’t even driving. 

Ranboo seems to be doing his controlled breathing, clutching onto the handle of the door like his life depends on it. “Please don’t kill us Tom.” he says trying to mask the anxiety in his voice. 

Tommy grins looking back at him for a moment, Ranboo doesn’t know if he likes his friend’s expression or not. “We got this Ranboo, have a little faith in me.” he says before turning back and resuming his fiery expression. 

Eret waves the flags in both of his hands, the building of the moment is tense; you can feel the sparks of electricity in the air from the hype. “Best of luck to you both.” Eret’s final call out to both of his friends a beat before the pop comes. 

Everything has built to this moment, any buzz of nerves that had been felt abruptly stop. The mutual agreement of this is where everyone is meant to be in this moment is unsaid but acknowledged. 

With the kick of the music, Eret let’s his arms drop, both flags fly in the wind.

They are off with a burst of dust and speed, the race has begun.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This took so long to write so I hope it's what you all were hoping for, I would also like to say that I am turning this story into a full AU! So those of you that liked this, know more is coming :) Comment anything you would really like to see from this series and I'll think about making it happen, I already have some ideas in the works that will be coming soon.
> 
> Also I would like to say before any car people comment, I really don't know anything about cars. Pretty much the bare minimum, this story is fictional and just me having fun so please don't criticize me too much for the lack of car accuracy? Thanks :D
> 
> Enjoy

The breeze from the speed of the two cars hit the bleachers causing Wilbur, Techno, Skeppy, and Bad to block their faces to avoid dust being showered in their eyes from how close they are to the vicinity of the track. 

Techno and Wilbur seemed to have processed what had just happened, as they looked fixedly off at the place where the two cars just were. Everyone had gotten distracted by Karl, which wasn’t unusual, the guy just demanded attention when he spoke, it was entertaining to listen to him. Wilbur let out a slew of curses under his breath as he looked off in the direction Tommy went, leaning over the railing of the bleachers to stare off where the cars drove off before staring up at the projector.

Bad would have yelled language to Wilbur’s explicit use of words if he knew the man better, but he’s too nervous with how irritated both Wilbur and Techno look.

Skeppy fidgets uncomfortably, wondering how he’s going to get himself and Bad out of this.  _ Dammit Dream _ , Skeppy was going to kill him later for leaving them all to deal with this while he raced. He didn’t know Dream as well as Bad did but he knew the masked man had done this to get under Tommy’s skin, and Skeppy didn’t appreciate that. He only hoped this didn’t ruin things at home for the younger blonde.

Techno pinches the bridge of his nose and let’s out a long sigh,  _ just fucking phenomenal so much for quickly dropping by _ .

**_“WOO!! There they go everyone, what a start!!”_ ** Karl laughs, obviously hitting an adrenaline high, he looks like he could be practically bouncing in his chair with vibrancy. Both Niki and Eret laugh at his expression. Only Karl could bring this much excitement to race announcing, this is why he had the job.

Wilbur turns his head to look back at Techno with a darkened expression of frustration as he’s still leaning over the rail of the bleachers. Without any hesitation, he vaults over the railing onto the track, landing with a small thump. He seems to motion for Techno to follow him with his hand.

“Wait don’t-” Skeppy starts, reaching out to grab Techno but it’s  _ far _ too late. The pink haired man wordlessly looked at Wilbur before grabbing the railing and leaping over after his brother. Skeppy and Bad yell in surprise with stunned disapproving noises, “HEY! Wait wait wait!!” the blue haired boy yells before maneuvering over the railing himself to go after them.

Bad on the other hand dashes down the stairs at the end of the bleachers instead of risking leaping over the railing and somehow falling. He runs to catch up to them as Wilbur and Techno start walking. “YOU GUYS CAN’T BE HERE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Bad yells as both he and Skeppy follow after them in fast pursuit, looking frantic as he looks around the track. He doesn’t want to create a possible hazard for Dream and Tommy while they were driving.

Wilbur seems to have elected to ignore him as he and Techno walk further along the side of the track by the stands. “You think we’ll get his attention from here or we’ll have to move up further?” he asks, sounding almost monotone though there is a bit of inquiry in his voice. 

“Probably, I don’t know how you expect to do this without making him crash. Unless he comes to a dead stop himself we can’t just stand out in the middle of the track.” Techno asks, raising an eyebrow at the expression on Wilbur’s face.

His expression looks empty, similar to the way a cat will stare at you, with almost dead eyes. There’s still a looming stubbornness in it that doesn’t look like he will be deterred.

“I’ll figure it out.” is what Wilbur says in response, to which Techno looks even less assured.

The voice in the speakers cuts out for a second like Karl is leaning away from the microphone to draw less attention. “ **_People have-_ ** **Is someone on the track?** **..** ” Karl looks over in their direction in confusion. Watching with a baffled expression towards Skeppy and Bad before blinking at Techno and Wilbur as if he’s trying to work out in his mind who they are.

Niki and Eret lean over to look as well, confused expressions on their faces. Niki leans over towards Eret to whisper something in their ear, covering up her mic so it doesn’t pick up the conversation. Eret looks at her and says something back in her ear in return before standing up clearly with the intent of walking over to see what’s going on and to deal with it. 

“HEY STOP WHAT-” Skeppy yells, he’s starting to panic a bit, he has no idea how he’s going to get them off the track.

Wilbur pivots to look at them though he’s still walking backwards. “What does it look like I’m doing, I’m going to wait til Tommy pulls around and I’m going to stop his car.” he says with too much seriousness in his tone that makes both Bad and Skeppy’s mouths drop open.

“WHAT?!- Is this really necessary?!” Bad cries out looking at them in distress, Techno looks back at the man with a scowl.

“This wouldn’t have had to happen if he wasn’t doing something illegal in the first place. Something that I would have  _ assumed _ that as all of his friends wouldn’t let him do because of how reckless it is. Apparently that was too bold of an assumption to make, I can’t believe Ranboo and Tubbo went along with it too.. _.Unbelievable _ . If Phil ever finds out he’s going to kill him.” Techno shakes his head with obvious anger and disappointment on his face. 

Skeppy frowns deeply and Bad flinches at the fury in Skeppy’s expression. “That is unfair! You two don’t even give a fuck about Tommy’s feelings! If you did and paid attention to him for once maybe he wouldn’t even be racing in general. So do  _ NOT _ blame this on all of us. At Least we have all tried to be there for Tommy. He has tried countless times to show you something that will impress you because believe it or not he looks up to the both of you. All you two ever do is tease him or not take any care in things he likes. What have you actually done for him?! This is no one’s fault but your own!” he yells pointing an accusing finger at the two brothers, he’s never been this furious before. Skeppy couldn’t believe the ignorance, how dare they insult them about not looking after Tommy when they haven’t done anything themselves.

Bad puts a hand on Skeppy’s shoulder to calm him down, looking at Wilbur and Techno with an unsure expression on his face. “Language Skeppy! You can’t just-” he starts but Skeppy cuts him off looking at Bad with an exasperated expression, “But it’s true Bad! You know it is!” Skeppy glares back at Techno and Wilbur.

Both Wilbur and Techno freeze, turning around on their feet so they can fully face Skeppy. The eldest and middle Watson brothers just stare, “What the hell-” Techno starts but is cut off by a voice sounding not too far behind them. 

“Boys is everything okay?..What are you doing down here?” Bad and Skeppy look around Wilbur and Techno caught off guard, but their expressions quickly shift from upset and anxiety ridden to moderately relieved.

Wilbur and Techno make a move to turn around and accidentally bump into something. There had clearly been a miscalculation in how close the voice was as they turn and come face to face with a tall man who they had seen check the cars earlier. The green haired mechanic looked down at techno and Wilbur with suspicion in his eyes. The older man’s gaze drifting over to Skeppy and Bad looking clearly concerned and cautious. His gloved hand is fixed on his hip while the other has a tool in it, his gloves like his face have car grease on them.

“Sam! Hey!” Bad calls grinning for the first time since he had bumped into Techno and Wilbur, he can’t help but feel happiness wash over him seeing the man standing in front of them.

“Sam, these are Tommy’s brothers...Dream invited them here, and now they want to stop the race because they didn’t know Tommy was in it, they jumped the railing and we chased them here.” Skeppy spoke very bluntly, crossed his arms in clear distaste as he averted his eyes.

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed looking from Skeppy back to Wilbur and Techno, the brothers are staring up at him with almost the same cold expression he’s seen Tommy wear at times when he doesn’t get his way. It's almost enough to make him chuckle, they were definitely siblings. Sam instead let out a light sigh, “Ah..I’m assuming you're not pleased then huh?..” He asks in such a way that makes Techno blink at him like Sam’s a moron, though that could simply just be the man’s resting face. 

“Not pleased is not exactly the way I would phrase it, look, our brother is a kid okay. Tommy is smart but he does stupidly impulsive things and half the time cannot think things fully through to save his life. You're telling me that in our shoes you would be okay with something like this?” a sarcastic glance is thrown at Sam. 

Sam blinks at him silently for a moment before looking up towards the track with a tsk-ing noise. He glances back at Skeppy and Bad, waving a dismissive hand towards them, “You two go back up on the bleachers before you give Nikki and Eret a heart attack or Skeppy blows a gasket, I could hear you yelling from all the way at Punz’s table. I got this.”

The two give the mechanic a grateful look. “Thank you Sam! Come one Skeppy.” Bad says dragging Skeppy away with the hand Skeppy still has on Bad’s arm from earlier. Skeppy grumbles something that goes unheard in response but he shoots Wilbur and Techno a bad look that says enough in itself.

Sam gives a small smile and rolls his eyes fondly at the two before looking past the two brothers at the announcer table where Niki and Karl are looking over at him in concern.

Eret was still standing but had paused in their movements when they saw Sam walk over. They are looking at Sam for confirmation that things are okay, the green haired tall man shoots them a thumbs up of reassurance. Eret nods and sits back down still looking over with a wariness.

Sam sees Skeppy and Bad approaching the table a few seconds later, Skeppy still looking annoyed from the confrontation while Bad leans over in Niki and Eret’s ear to explain the situation.

Karl continues to cover the race keeping the excited tone in his voice as though what had just happened had not dimmed his spirits. 

Sam looks back down at Wilbur and Techno, turning around starting to walk back to his safe spot by the track, the table he had been at earlier. “Come on then..” he says softly motioning for them to follow. When he received a distrustful look in return Sam offered them somewhat of a slight smile, “Do you two want an explanation or not?” he asks in slight amusement at how cranky the two were.

The two Watson boys do not respond but start walking after him anyways.

That does get a small chuckle out of him as he shook his head, once again, they were  _ definitely _ Tommy’s brothers with that amount of stubbornness. 

They walked all the way down towards the table area, Sam keeping ahead of them to give them necessary space.

“Listen if you're going to talk us out of-” Wilbur starts but Sam quickly cuts him off with a shush.

Wilbur draws back slightly in offence, mouth open like he’s about to tell Sam off but when the man looks back at Wilbur with a raised eyebrow, Wilbur looks away and growls softly. He cannot believe he is letting himself be quieted by this man he doesn’t know, but for some reason he reminds him a bit of his dad, so he can’t help but feel the need to listen to him despite being irritated by the action.

The three approach the table where the man with the gold chain and the other with the ski mask are still standing. As they walk up the man in the Ski-mask looks from Sam to Wilbur and Techno with a look of unsureness. The man with the gold chain says nothing but looks up at them out of the corner of his eye as he counts what looks to be a large stack of a hundred dollar bills.

“How’s it looking, Punz?” Sam asks as he takes his gloves off, pocketing them despite the grease.

The gold chain man fully looks up now as he finishes his counting, grinning at Sam. However he’s still looking Wilbur and Techno up and down like they are intruders. “Highest bets we’ve had in awhile, I finished up the counting and it should be good to go for when it’s over.” he locks the money in a lock box close by, twirling the key in his fingers.

Sam lets out a whistle at the cash pile, “Sounds good, hey why don’t you let me guard the table for a while, you and Ponk can get a closer look at the race. I know you’ve been dying to see what’s going on since you don’t have a good view from here. Plus I gotta talk to these boys.” 

Both men give him an apprehensive look, they don’t seem to like this idea.

“Are you sure Sam?...” The guy in the ski mask asks cautiously, his look of uneasiness at Wilbur and Techno still evident on his face.

_ What the hell was with that anyways? _ Did they hate them around here or something, everyone seemed so territorial.

Sam nods and gives the two an amused look, “You’re telling me you two didn’t place bets with each other and aren’t dying to see who’s in the lead?” blinking up at the two expectedly.

Both men stare back at Sam, before fidgeting for a moment.

“Yeah...okay maybe just a peek. See you Sam!” The man in the ski mask takes off running towards the bleachers.

“PONK YOU SON OF A BITCH, WAIT FOR ME! I’ll be back in a bit Sam.” The man wearing the gold chain makes a move to take off, however he steals one look back at Wilbur and Techno. He hesitantly pauses before taking the locked money box off the table. “...I’m taking this with me…” he takes off after the ski mask man with newfound speed in his step not wasting any time explaining his choice. The lockbox jiggles as he speeds away.

Sam laughs and shakes his head, “Becareful Ponkie, Punz do not hurt him!” he calls after the two with the knowledge that they most likely will not listen to him anyways. Sam leans against the table, kicking his leg up as he flips up the closed sign on the betting stand. “No one bets after the race starts anyways...I know those two seem strange but they are just goofy idiots who love a good competition..but don’t we all?..” he utters aloud seeming to mostly be speaking to himself. 

Wilbur and Techno do not look amused by the banter, instead staring back at Sam silently with a look of impatience. They look back at the track like they want to go and drag their brother out of the car themselves.

Sam picks up that they seem to just want to cut to the chase so he wipes his mouth on his sleeve and exhales slowly, “He’s been racing for just about 5 months now if that’s what you're wondering..”

Both boys look back towards him with expressions that are unreadable.

Wilbur grimaces slightly,  _ he’s been doing this for five months? _ The question of how they hadn’t managed to catch Tommy was all Wilbur could think about.

Techno frowns, “Sounds about right, that’s around the same time he started getting distant and going to work. I’m guessing he really doesn’t have a job and he just comes here?” the pink haired man asks and Sam nods.

“Well yeah, Technically this has become his job. The more he wins, the more cash he obtains, the faster he climbs. He doesn’t race every day though, a lot of the time he comes down here just to drive, or he’ll stay in the lot at my shop and do homework, even just hang out if he needs a bit of time to himself.” Sam explains very calmly with a bit of a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Shop?” Wilbur repeats looking at him for an explanation.

Sam gestures at his outfit loosely, “As you can tell I’m a mechanic, I work on cars down the road from here in a metal shop. It has an open dirt lot so when I work Tommy and whoever else usually likes to practice tricks there. It’s pretty spacious so there’s plenty of room for them to do whatever where I can see them.” 

Wilbur threads his hands into his hair looking stressed, “How did Tommy even get a car?! He’s the only one in our family that doesn’t have one. How the fuck did you even meet him in the first place, how did he start this.” he makes a sound of clear torment and confusion. “I’m sorry I’m just trying to wrap my head around this whole thing.” 

Sam nods slowly in understanding, he figured when Tommy would tell his family there would be some pushback. It wasn’t exactly the safest or more legal ends of fun, at least the way the syndicate was running things. “The car he’s driving was given to him by the guy in the ski mask you just saw” 

The mechanic laughs slightly at techno’s look of displeasure in that sentence.

“I know he doesn’t exactly look like a great person with it, but Ponk is a harmless guy, I’ve known him for a long time to know the man honestly wouldn’t hurt a fly even if he says otherwise. He’s probably around your age, Tommy mentioned you just turned 20 right?” Sam asks looking over at Techno.

Techno blinks in slight shock, his eyes widening, “Tommy talks about me?..” he asks almost with a hesitancy.

Sam smiles and nods, “Hell yeah are you kidding? He’s told me a ton about you two.”

Techno averts his gaze towards the track as if he’s processing that in his mind.

Meanwhile, Wilbur looks restless as he taps his foot wildly, “You still didn’t answer my question of how you met my brother, if you don’t mind me asking how old are you anyways?” The brunette looks at Sam cautiously.

Sam puts his hands up in defense understanding Wilbur’s apprehension, “Woah, I know I look much older, I’m 24. Car work ages you alright? I know that still doesn’t seem great but I’m actually close with Tommy’s friend Purpled? I don’t know if you know him, but Ponk and I have known him since he was a young kid. I used to babysit him when he lived next door to my family. Purpled brought Tommy by at one point to drive the car around like he usually did on his own anyways, after that Tommy just kept stopping with Purpled, Tubbo, or even just on his own. At one point Niki and Eret, the girl with the pink hair and the person with the shades and pointy shoes over there, dropped by. They saw his potential and offered for him to come by and check out a race. After that the kid was kinda hooked.” he elaborates carefully.

Wilbur frowns and lets out a huff, “I’m so stupid I should have called out those ‘study groups’, since when would Tommy ever go to one of those?!” The brunette puts his face in his hands and rubs his eyes with a pained expression.

Techno on the other hand seems unimpressed, “ So let me get this straight, you allowed Tommy to drive around an old car in your dirt lot recklessly, then let him race said car in an illegal underground racing syndicate involving gambling and dangerous tracks where he could get himself hurt or even worse?..” his tone again lowering dangerously.

Sam grimaces, “I understand when you put it like that it sounds bad. To be fair, Tommy does have a driver's license, so it’s not like he was driving illegally. I didn’t let him drive out on the road or in anything without fixing the car with extra safety precautions. It already had some things installed in it, but I made sure it was as safe as possible before I let him use the thing in any kind of competition. I know it sounds like such a big and bad organization but it is run by two people, one of which is a senior, the other is newly in college just like you two. This isn’t run by any sketchy dangerous people. I mean Dream races here as you’ve seen, and from the looks of it seems you two have known each other for awhile.” Sam raises an eyebrow at Techno who at the mention of Dream scowls angrily, his fists clenching.

“This really is just a group of close friends who like to drive for fun, money didn’t even come into it until much later. It was mainly so some of these broke kids could pay off things for their families. A lot of them were struggling financially before this, so being able to collect a sizable check from doing something they love with others they enjoy being around was a nice deal a lot needed to accept. You're telling me you would pass up on something like that if you were in their shoes and really needed it? If your family was about to be out on the street?..I know it doesn’t seem ethical but they all keep coming back not just because of the cash but because they have the time of their life doing this.”Sam looks up at Wilbur and Techno with a serious and sincere look in his eyes.

“That still doesn’t excuse the fact that this is something they can get arrested for...Not to mention the fact that Tommy has probably been spending his money the second he gets it.” Wilbur looks at Sam with an expression of doubt.

Sam frowns even more at Wilbur and now crosses his arms clearly starting to feel defensive. He hates when anyone picks on Tommy, even if it’s family. “He actually hasn’t spent any more than 50 dollars of what he’s earned.” Sam says firmly, which causes both Wilbur and Techno to look up at him in surprise.

“What is he doing with it then?” Techno asks tilting his head slightly like he can’t understand that Tommy would save any of it.

“He split it with Tubbo for being his co-pilot, and then took the rest of it and split that and has taken half of it to save up to give to his dad, when he was planning on telling all of you, to help pay house bills. He mentioned you guys weren’t doing amazing financially and he wanted to take some of the stress off of your father’s back. The rest I suggested he should take and put aside as much as he can to save for college payments or whatever else he would like to do after high school.” Sam smiles a bit, a somewhat proud look on his face, unable to stop the slight pride he feels. He’s only known Tommy for a short time but he’s grown quite fond of the kid. He’s proud Tommy is putting his money towards something responsibly, it shows the maturity he has despite what others may assume due to his personality at times.

Wilbur and Techno look away with guilt filled expressions obvious on their faces.

“He shouldn’t have to do that...we should be helping more..” Wilbur mumbles frowning at himself. He didn’t know his brother had felt the need to pick up the slack that they should have been doing instead.

Sam gives them both a look of sympathy, “that’s not your faults, Tommy is just stubborn, and he cares soo much about all of you…” it’s true, Tommy adores his family and whenever Sam had asked him about it despite Tommy sometimes being irritated with his siblings, he rarely ever spoke bad about them.

“Look, those words the blue haired guy said earlier, Skeppy? About Tommy just wanting to impress you two is true. Every time Tommy has spoken about you guys he’s always talked about how gifted you both are and how he feels like he can never measure up to that. He really wants to have something for you two to be proud of him for. So when he found out he was good at racing he jumped into it despite what you all might say, because this was finally something he had that you two couldn’t top him in or would think was nothing.” Sam explains with a bit of a sad smile on his face.

Wilbur bites his lip, “He just wants us to say he’s proud of him?..” he mumbles softly to himself.

Techno also frowns looking a bit upset, he puts his face in his hand, “He doesn’t have to do that...of course he’s enough, he always has been..” the eldest says softly but it’s heard and that’s what matters.

Sam smiles more at Techno and nods, “Yeah..You two know that, I’m sure your father knows it, we all know it here, but Tommy doesn’t. He told me about that awards wall you guys have in your house, he just wants something to have to show that he’s doing something with himself. He thinks you two are so cool, he wants for you guys to feel the same way about him that he does when he looks at the two of you.” 

Wilbur and Techno look at each other and share small brief smiles, they are a bit sad at the same time. It sucked that Tommy felt the need to prove himself but it is touching that he looked up at them with such admiration.

Even if Wilbur and Techno hadn’t been there like they should have been.

“I know we both haven’t been great brothers..but we wanna make it up to him, that’s actually what we were going to do tonight. We were supposed to have a movie night before uh..” Wilbur trails off scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

Sam laughs, “Usually after things like this everyone parties and hangs out, but I think you two should definitely still go do that with Tommy. I think he’d love it.” the mechanic says with a grin.

Both Techno and Wilbur snort, but there is a bit of relief on their faces.

“So..what should we do then about this? I still don’t feel like we should ignore the fact that our brother has been illegally racing without our knowledge..” Techno says frowning slightly despite the tension that was there before being gone.

Sam nods slightly, “I get that, you don’t have to, lecture him all you want...but just go easy on him okay? He was going to tell you, he just wanted to wait until he figured out the best way to do so because he didn’t want you guys to well..do what you were trying to do earlier.” Sam chuckles sheepishly.

Both Techno and Wilbur cringe, “Sam, Right?...You clearly know my brother better than I do at this point...What should we say to him?” Wilbur asks, looking a little lost.

Sam blinks stunned, surprised they are asking for his opinion genuinely. However, he grins and looks back towards the track while the crowd faintly yells in the background, “Be there for him, smile and congratulate him if he wins. If he doesn’t tell him it’s fine and they’ll be other times, that it’s not the end of the world. Just be you, that’s all he wants, you don’t have to be his biggest fan but at least show him you give a shit about what he’s doing because it’s what he loves.” 

“Is he really that good?...” Techno asks hesitantly.

Sam beams, “I’ve never seen a kid be able to do what he does. Even with Tubbo helping him it just makes him shine even more. I have no doubt he’s doing what he’s meant to be doing...So what do you think?” 

The brothers exchange glances again, Wilbur grins and Techno rolls his eyes but smiles. 

_ Sounded like their Tommy. _

The race syndicate all sat around the announcing table, watching the projectors with grins on their faces. Cheering and yelling when necessary as Karl did so alongside them as he talked about what was happening on the screens with passion and an energy that you could just not bring down.

When Sam came walking over with a million dollar grin on his face followed by Techno and Wilbur, all of them gave the two suspicious looks. Skeppy and Bad had told them of the situation and they clearly were not keen about it.

However when Sam told them the two boys were fine and the brothers apologized to Skeppy and Bad for earlier, the others finally felt like things could actually end in the way they hoped the race would go originally.

So they went back to fully focusing on the race, except now the Watson boys were rooting for their brother and his friends to kick Dream’s ass, _ before they got a hold of him themselves _ .

**...**

The minute the flags had dropped and the cars had taken off, Tommy immediately noticed the difference between racing other people and racing Dream. Even in the jumpstart he could already feel the masked man was hard to keep up with, but that didn’t mean that it was impossible for Tommy to do so.

They spent a good first part of the straight away pulling ahead by the front portions of their cars inches apart. Both testing each other's initial speed limits or how far they were willing to push it in the first part, this was customary. A gauge that could usually give you an idea of how things might go throughout the race.

However, this was different, it  _ felt _ different. Tommy and Dream could not get an easy read on each other and that was very evident.

Dream turned to look out George’s window, shooting Tommy an amused expression with a raise of his eyebrow. His stare was nothing but taunting as he gestures towards the road with a slight movement of his head,  _ you going to actually start racing at some point? Or is this how it’s going to be the entire time? _

Tommy wants to punch the look off of his face, scowling back at him and sticking out his tongue,  _ we’ve just started you bastard, you haven’t seen  _ **_anything_ ** _ yet _ .

**_“WOO!! There they go everyone, what a start!!”_ ** Even through their windows Karl’s voice reverberates, the man was just too loud and filled with intense spouts of energy that his voice could just pierce through the glass and be heard from even the far ends of the track.

It was nice to hear Karl though, he was a constant in every new racing event. No race ever turns out the same, but Karl was always reliable because he never changed his attitude. 

The track started to curve slightly as they neared the first turn, it swooped towards the right and then to the left before straightening out again at the actual turn. It seemed to narrow out slightly into the looped sections, clearly someone would need to take a lead in front or the two cars would not fit.

Tommy was kinda surprised Dream had not yet tried anything. After the stunt of inviting his brothers, the blonde had figured that Dream would be trying anything possible to make problems for him.

“Let’s go Tommy, let’s go time to pop off!” Quackity bounced slightly from the back, grinning as he watched the car out the window. He made faces back and forth with Sapnap as they tried to annoy each other. Obviously all that had succeeded in doing was causing giggles from both sides.

You can’t hear what’s going on in the Dream Team’s car, but Sapnap abruptly stops with a pout when George turns around and evidently tells him off. Dream throws his head back with a cackle that isn’t heard as Sapnap reaches over the seat in an attempt to smack the goggle glasses wearing man who looks extremely unamused. 

Quackity laughs again, “Seems like Gogy is having issues.” The comment earns an eye roll from Tubbo.

“Q stop instigating problems with your fiancé” Tubbo snorts when an overly exaggerated noise of offence comes from Alex’s mouth, referencing the joke union that had transpired between the Dream Team member, their announcer, and him.

“I have done no such thing Tubbo, if anything Sapnap started it! I just finished it. It’s not my fault my husband is a menace.” Quackity replies with a grin and another wheeze laugh at the look Tubbo gives him back.

Ranboo on the other hand is still tightly clutching onto the car door with a ferocity that looks like his arm will just break clean off from the amount of force he’s put into it. He hasn’t said a single word since they’ve started, maybe lost in pure terror and fear for his life.

Quackity seems to have noticed his discomfort, reaching over and wrapping an arm around the kid. He yanks him close into his grasp resulting in Ranboo forcibly letting go of the door causing an alarmed yelp to come from him as Ranboo wraps his arms around the closest thing. Which just happened to also be the beanie wearing clown sitting next to him.

“OH Shit- Woahhhh Ranboo buddy if you wanted a hug you should have just said something, there’s enough of me to go around. Though I don’t know how Karl and Sap will take it though.” teasing evident in his tone though he is quick to wrap an arm back around Ranboo despite it.

Ranboo looks up at him, his eyes barely visible from behind his glasses but the man looks to be anything but in good spirits.

If Quackity didn’t know him well he might have thought Ranboo could actually strangle him with the stare he was giving.

“I regret ever allowing myself to be in this car- scratch that in vicinity of any of you. You have permanently ruined my life.” he grumbles but makes no attempt to let go of Quackity, maybe because he physically cannot make himself. His body has locked up in an attempt for protection. Like a cat you’ve tried to put into water revolting into itself.

Tubbo laughs, he doesn’t turn back to look but he doesn’t have need to, you can practically hear the grin on his face, “Oh come on Ranboo we have made your life more exciting and entertaining!” 

“Excuse me if you have forgotten, WE ARE RACING DREAM RIGHT NOW!! Please focus when we're about to hit up the rounded part of the track leading into the turn. Tubbo I need you.” Tommy’s tone of voice gets louder as his fingers fidget on the steering wheel.

Tubbo looks back ahead, a focused and determined expression falling back on to his face, “Right, Sorry I’m watching.”

**_“Alright everyone, we're coming up on the loop into the first turn! Whoever pulls a lead might just give us an idea for how this will turn out! Niki these tracks force the racers into putting someone ahead. Why is that?”_ ** Karl’s voice comes back, a faint voice can be heard in response but it’s much quieter as Niki doesn’t have the vocal power that Karl has. 

**_“Most drag racing doesn’t have any sharp turns or narrow streets but we like giving a challenge, it makes it more interesting and speeds up the process of forcing a lead. It makes racers have to think on the spot. I think particularly for this race it really is brain power vs wit and instincts.”_ ** Niki’s answer while complex is true.

Tommy does want to know who she thinks would be the brain power over wits and instincts,  _ what the hell was she trying to say?! _

Out of nowhere Dream, who had been coasting, pulls forward at a rapid rate into the curved road. He swings in front of Tommy so fast the sound of tires skidding on the road is heard. Without any warning the car abruptly jerks slower.

“FUCK-” Tommy curses as he hits the brakes before shoving his foot on the clutch causing the Ponti to also lurch slightly, Tubbo’s hand flying to the shift to change it.

Normally Tommy would have just swung out of the way but because of the narrowed road he couldn’t do so without going off track.

Tommy doesn’t process he’s flying out of his seat towards the front windshield until Quackity and Tubbo’s arms have reached to yank him back in his seat. Chaos erupts in the car, an audible and panicked gasp escaping Ranboo’s mouth. 

**_“Dream has pulled into the lead and OH!- BRAKE CHECK!! TOMMYINNIT HAS GONE NEARLY FLYING FROM HIS SEAT!! TOMMY WHAT ARE YOU DOING PUT YOUR BELT ON YOU NIMROD!! DREAM SEEMS TO BE TRYING TO KEEP OUR RESIDENT UNDERDOG ON HIS TOES, PULLING WHAT IS ALMOST CONSIDERED A CHEAP SHOT! We would know because Skeppy pulls the same honking move everytime he races.”_ ** an audible sound of protest can faintly be heard from a distance in the back. A small argument must have taken place because Karl instantly replies back into the microphone with,  **_“Skeppy I don’t remember asking for your opinion on this, everyone knows it’s a boring as honk tactic. You are dogwater, you ARE actual dogwater.”_ **

Tommy can already feel the disdain and lecture he’s going to get from his friends when this is over, however that doesn’t mean he’s escaped the one he’s about to get right now from the other occupants in his car.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Quackity shouts, while Tubbo looks at Tommy like he’s about to pull Tommy out of the car and beat the shit out of him.

“TOMMY ARE YOU NOT WEARING YOUR SEATBELT?!” Tubbo all but screams still holding onto Tommy’s shirt on his shoulder from where he had frantically grabbed a hold of his friend.

Tommy elects to ignore him for the moment, focusing his anger on the car in front of him, “YOU ASSHOLE! STOP PULLING A SKEPPY AND FUCKING DRIVE!!” he shouts.

Dream’s eyes in his front rearview mirror are slightly wide as he watches, clearly not expecting Tommy to not have his belt on. His expression quickly morphs back into a smug one as he winks at Tommy, causing a snarl to escape the blonde’s lips.

George and Sapnap on the other hand were watching with clear worry, but on the discovery that Tommy is okay George turns back forward in his seat rubbing his temples in stress while Sapnap covers up his concern with a grin and a peace sign as Dream starts to take off again.

“TOMMY ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?! YOU DAFT-” Tubbo starts to shake his friend causing Tommy to look at him, “TUBBO THERE WAS NO TIME OKAY!! SHIFT BACK SHIFT BACK!” he starts yelling.

His brunette best friend watches him like he’s a psychopath, “NO TIME- YOUR BROTHERS ARE LITERALLY WATCHING YOU ARE SO NOT HELPING YOUR CASE!” he shouts.

The two start bickering intensely back and forth with a pace that would probably scare whomever didn’t know the two well.

“UH GUYS THEY ARE GETTING AWAY!” Quackity yells looking ahead where Dream has left them in the dust.

Finally Ranboo still holding onto Big Q has just had enough. He unbuckles his own belt momentarily and reaches over Tommy grabbing the blonde’s seatbelt and clicks it around the boy. The movement instantly causes both best friends to shut up and look back at him as Ranboo returns to his seat and rebuckles, assuming his hold of the car door.

“There, now it’s fixed. Now go!” Ranboo says gesturing ahead at the road giving both boys pointed expressions.

Tubbo and Tommy exchange glances before Tubbo quickly shifts back and Tommy hits the gas then clutch sending them shooting off.

Quackity pats Ranboo hard on the shoulder causing the other to nearly jump out of his skin, “See Ranboo I knew it was useful having you here!” the man beams. Ranboo simply shrugs in response, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck in a bit of embarrassment. 

**_“Seems like Tommy’s crew has finally got it together after that brake check from Dream, the question is if he can catch Dream after that brief pause?”_ **

Tommy’s eyebrows furrow,  _ Karl what kind of question even is that?!  _ **_He’s Tommyfuckinginnit of course he can._ **

**_“GO TOMMY GO!!”_ ** Niki’s voice cuts into Karl’s, her cheers make him grin and look back in the direction of the table. He can faintly see a figure with pink hair standing out of their seat.

Niki’s voice is enough to have Tommy increase his speed, causing the car to rocket forward after Dream, giving a rapid chase. He couldn’t disappoint Niki could he? Letting down Nihachu was just a crime in itself.

“Catch him Tom!” Tubbo urges his speed demon tendencies, Quackity cackles in the back while Ranboo gets jolted by the change in momentum. He grabs Alex’s jacket so tightly his knuckles turn white. “AH TOMMY!” Ranboo yells as he tries not to get jostled around.

The blonde driving grins at him in the front rearview mirror with a vehement spark in his blue eyes, “Sorry big man, have to kick it into overdrive!” 

The turn is coming up quick now and Tommy is practically tailgating behind Dream. For a second he even considers bumping the man in the back just for being a dick but he doesn’t want to dent or scratch his car. Sam was already going to have his head for not wearing a seat belt earlier, he would rather not have the green haired man pissed and needing to hammer out the crater in the bumper. 

**_“Not surprising to see Tommy has now caught up with Dream! We weren’t joking when we said he’s been on his game as of late. He’s pulling so close it looks like he’s trying to box in Dream with no options, our road is opening back out again into our turn let’s see how this is handled!!”_ ** You can hear the excitement in Karl’s voice with the slight giggle he has.

The minute the road open’s out again Tommy shifts to the side and increases speed again shooting out in front of Dream.

“Tubbo!” Tommy calls as he speeds towards the turn, “Gotcha” his best friend says in return as he once again shifts the stick. Tommy turns the wheel at a smooth pace keeping his speed as he rounds the corner and transitions into a nice slide.

The turn causes Ranboo to let out a yell in fear as they lean with it.

Tommy manages to keep the wheel steady and easily turns back into the straight away with a fluidity like it’s muscle memory for him. Tubbo shifts back once they are in the straight.

“WOO YES TOMMY! EAT OUR FUCKING SHIT!!” Quackity calls out looking back at Dream’s car.

The masked man’s eyes have narrowed, George frowning with a trained in and serious expression as they too come around the corner. Sapnap obviously yelling for his friend to go faster in the back. 

**_“A PERFECT WELL CONTROLLED POWERSLIDE FROM TOMMY, DREAM IS JUST BEHIND HIM DRIFTING OUT A BIT TO SEE IF HE CAN CLOSE THAT SMALL LEAD TOMMY HAS TAKEN!”_ **

_ Not if he has anything to say about it _ , Tommy keeps shifting back and forth in front trying to keep Dream from attempting to pull ahead of him.

The act causes the whole car to erupt in laughter while it’s very clear from behind in the Dream Team car they are starting to get irritated.

Dream’s window rolls down, and even with the massive amount of wind he catches a loud “YOU’RE A PRICK!” from what sounds like Dream, while a shriek of STOP from both George and Sapnap echoes in the back.

It causes the group to laugh even harder, Tommy continuing to zig zag, it’s obvious now he’s just trying to push Dream’s buttons.

Meanwhile at the announcers table Tommy’s car isn’t the only one absolutely losing their shit.

Karl and Skeppy are practically about to fall from their chairs, pretty much howling with laughter.

Wilbur is right there with him holding onto Techno’s arm so as to not fall over as he laughs hard.  _ Their brother was such a little shit. _

Bad is consumed in giggles with Niki, while both Eret and Ponk are snorting at the childish nature.

Punz pinches the bridge of his nose, while Techno rolls his eyes however a smile he is clearly trying to hide is on his face.

Sam shakes his head slowly as he chuckles, that’s Tommy for you. Always finding a way to somehow annoy someone and use it to his advantage. 

The two cars continue on the track, powersliding into the turns to keep their speed as they come around. They are getting closer to the finish, however Tommy has managed to keep his lead with a trained gaze of unwavering focus as Dream tries countlessly times to pull in front of him.

Tommy shakes every attempt the masked man makes with grace, everyone has really started to get into it.

Even Ranboo who has calmed down slightly and has started to encourage his friend more as Tommy nears the end. 

**_“Tommy has unexpectedly been able to keep his lead pretty well ever since the first turn! Is Dream about to have a fall from grace? Or has Tommyinnit been lured into a false sense of security?”_ **

False sense of security his ass, Dream was just caught off his guard at how good Tommy actually was.

Though Tommy knew not to get cocky, the first time he had done that it had cost him a win entirely. He tried his best to keep a humble attitude until they crossed the finish line though his excitement was building more and more as they neared. He could actually do this, Tommy might actually be able to beat Dream.

Dream swerves from behind coming up to drive right next to him, Tommy watches from the corner of his eye as Dream starts to linger closer to him. Tommy has to lean more to the side to create the necessary safe distance between them.  _ What the fuck was this dickhead doing now? _

Tommy increases his speed slightly with the intent of getting ahead and moving in front so Dream can’t continue to try to push him to the side of the track when Dream shoots forward, turns, and drifts right in front of him sideways. His passenger door facing Tommy as Dream stares him down with an unmoving expression, as if he dared the kid to drive further.

“CLAY?!” George shrieks in horror as he stares at Tommy’s car which is coming towards him, Sapnap however makes no sound, staring like a deer caught in headlights. 

**_“Dream has seemed to have pulled ahead and- DREAM HAS DRIFTED TO A STOP IN FRONT OF TOMMY!! DREAM-”_ ** Karl’s microphone cuts out with static coming from the feedback of the speakers. He seems to have yelled so loudly to the point that the headset could not handle his voice. Karl is standing out of his seat, leaning over the table staring at the projector, hoping he’s not about to watch the death of his friends.

Niki’s hands fly to her mouth, her eyes shutting tightly like she can’t bare to watch, all the air escaping her lungs.

Eret grabs Niki’s arm, unable to take their own eyes away from the screen as they wait.

Skeppy, Bad, Ponk, and Punz’s mouths fall slack as they stare up in paralyzed fear.

Sam’s heart drops staring intently at the projector, his mind going momentarily blank. 

Techno and Wilbur stare in absolute horror as they watch Tommy drive towards Dream, “TOMMY!” Wilbur’s voice yells without even processing the name has left his mouth. The two brothers look mortified on the oncoming scene.

The crowd screams with both shock and wonder, like it is both the scariest and most amazing thing they have ever seen.

Tommy gasps in fear, eyes widening as he vaguely hears Tubbo scream his name in the background. His reflexes are fast though, Tommy quickly swerves off of the track and onto the surrounding dirt, stomping down on the brakes letting the car have a bit of drag so they spin and slowly stop.

His heart is pounding in his ears, hands shaking as he stares off, he’s never had a brush of death like that.

When the ringing in his ears stops, screams start to enter them, he assumes they belong to Quackity and Ranboo before the squeak of the parking brake being pulled is heard. His hands are still latched to the steering wheel when he finally spares a slow glance at Tubbo.

His best friend is staring ahead, eyes wide and face pale looking like he might be physically ill, his hand is clutching the parking brake as it trembles.

Silence goes through the car as Tommy swallows hard, hands faintly trembling as adrenaline is still coursing through him. “Is...Is everyone okay?” he asks, sounding like he’s trying to catch his breath. His eyes hesitantly glance up at the mirror where he can see Quackity and Ranboo’s equally aghast facial expressions. 

The four say nothing as Dream’s car swings around and races off. Staring in shock. caught in a small stunned daze.

“Did...Did Dream just try to run us off the track on purpose and KILL US.” Quackity asks after another second of silence.

Ranboo looks woozy, he silently wraps his arms around Quackity, obviously needing a hug after that. The poor kid's life has looked to have flashed before his eyes.

Quackity returns the hug because honestly he kinda needs it too,  _ wtf was that _ . 

One of Tommy’s hands finds its way off the steering wheel and onto Tubbo’s shoulder, giving his friend’s arm a squeeze, as if trying to figure out if they are hallucinating or not.

Tubbo’s hand lets go of the parking brake and reaches up squeezing Tommy’s hand back faintly to indeed confirm that this is real.

All four men have seemed to catch their breath, the shock starting to wear off. Things seem to have suddenly set in and Tommy explodes.

“THAT FUCKING BASTARD!! IS HE ABSOLUTELY MAD?!” he yells, letting go of Tubbo shoulder and smacking the steering wheel.

He looks from Tubbo, then to Ranboo and Quackity in the back. The three stare back at Tommy all too stunned to speak.

Tommy looks back ahead where a lingering dust cloud is from Dream’s car, his fist clenches and reaches down for the parking brake, pushing it off.

“Not today boys…” Is all Tommy says in a low dangerous voice before hitting the gas and clutch, the ponti revving and taking off. The other three boys yelp at the sudden motion of the car again. 

Karl clears his throat,  **_“It seems that Tommy has started back into the race after that terrifying attempt to knock him out. With Dream so far ahead Tommyinnit is going to have to pull out all the stops to even get a chance at catching him.”_ ** he still sounds a little shell shocked but Karl is trying to get back into it.

Audible sighs of relief in the background can be heard as the audience cheers in rejoice.

_ Tommyinnit wasn’t going down that easily, not without a fight anyways. _

“Tommy?!” Tubbo questions as the blonde has not yet driven back onto the track.

“Alright guys, after that there is no way we can let this fucker win. Are you guys with me here?” Tommy asks, not breaking his gaze from the dirt ahead.

Quackity, Ranboo, and Tubbo exchange silent glances before Tubbo looks at Tommy and smiles.

“We said we were going to kick his ass...so let’s kick his ass.” his best friend says with a deep breath, his hand finding its way back onto the stick.

Quackity mischievously beams at Tommy in the rearview mirror, “There is no way we are letting that asshole get away after that. I’m with you.” 

They all look towards Ranboo who blinks back at all of them, the man sighs meekly. “I don’t think I have much of a choice here. So yeah me too.” 

A grin finds its way onto Tommy’s face, “Let’s win this thing then.” he drives more onto the dirt farther from the track.

“You heard Karl though, we’re going to need to pull out all the stops to win, Tubbo get ready. Everyone hold onto something!!” Tommy yells as he increases speed again, shooting off after the Dream Team vehicle. 

**_“TOMMYINNIT IS GAINING ON THE DREAM TEAM, HE’S ACTUALLY DOING IT GUYS!! THIS IS WHY TOMMY IS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS”_ **

Tommy had managed to catch up to Dream, pushing his car way harder than the ponti could take for long periods of time. He didn’t need long though, he just needed to get behind him. 

Dream hides the disbelief of Tommy catching up with a smirk that is evident even under his mask. Like Tommy did earlier to him, he sways in the track not allowing Tommy to pull up next to him and cut him off like he did to the blonde earlier. It's an amusing payback that he hopes causes anguish.

Except getting next to him is not what Tommy wanted, again he only needed to get behind the masked man. 

“Tubbo on my mark!” Tommy calls, the brunette next to him nods looking prepared. Quackity and Ranboo look just as determined as the other two do, the energy in the car has synced up. One overarching feeling is shared between the four:  _ Stop Dream _

Tommy suddenly turns his wheel, instead of swerving ahead of dream he drives to the side off the track and onto the dirt diagonally. 

Dream blinks in confusion staring at the kid wondering what the hell he’s doing, clearly his driving companions share the same uncertainty, because they both look off where Tommy is driving. 

Tommy suddenly turns abruptly, “NOW TUBBO NOW!” he yells as he quickly uses both hands to turn the wheel.

Tubbo quickly shifts and they begin to slide, tire skidding sounds fill the air.

Time feels like it’s slowed. Dream’s eyes widen in his own shock as Tommy drifts in front of him.

The two lock eyes as the car curves around them, George’s mouth falls open as Tubbo and Tommy’s mocking grins send a very clear message. 

“ _ Holy Shit..”  _ Sapnap murmurs as he stares, Dream for once has no response for his friend.

Tubbo shifts again as Tommy spins the wheel and turns the car forward, wasting no time speeding off towards the finish line.

Quackity is seen in the back window shooting them two middle fingers as they drive off.

**_“OH MY GOD!!! HOLY SHIT IMPRESSIVE DRIFT BY TOMMYINNIT, HE’S TAKEN THE LEAD AND IS HEADING ON HOME!”_ **

Dream snaps out of his stupor and growls, hitting the gas and taking off after the blonde pulling behind him. 

**_“IT’S GONNA BE A CLOSE CALL FOLKS!! THEY ARE COMING IN HOT!”_ ** Karl yells, bouncing up and down where he’s standing, still leaning against the announcement table.

Everyone else has already gotten out of their seats and is watching just as intensely.

“HOLY SHIT THEY ARE COMING IN SO FAST!!” Skeppy shouts, laughs of disbelief and excitement also coming out of his mouth as he starts to see the two cars in the distance.

The sounds of engines roaring and the smell of rubber burning fills their noses.

“Language Skeppy!!” Bad yells in response though he is leaning out to watch as well, holding onto Skeppy’s sleeve and yanking on it rapidly, “HERE THEY COME, OH MY MUFFINS!” Bad nearly jumps in excitement shaking Skeppy’s sleeve more frantically, he moves Skeppy back and forth as he does so but Skeppy is too focused on the race to really care.

“I am going to have to change the tires on both of those cars after this, it smells like they are melting.” Sam chuckles and he grins. The mechanic rests his arm on Ponk’s shoulder which is hard because every now and then Ponk will yell and throw his arms in the air knocking Sam’s off.

**_“It looks neck and neck!”_ ** Niki’s hands are still over her mouth as she watches, staring in anticipation. 

Eret is still standing right next to Niki, they seem to be holding their breath as the cars draw closer and closer.

“Pull ahead come on come one..” Techno mutters to himself as he crosses his arms, standing behind Wilbur as he watches intently, a focused unbreakable gaze in his eyes.

Meanwhile Wilbur is leaning against the railing of the bleachers next to the table, “COME ON TOMMY YOU’RE SO CLOSE!” he yells, gripping the bar of the rail so tightly it looks like it might break under his fingers.

The crowd gets louder and louder as the cars come thundering down the straight away, crossing over the finish line so fast it looks like a streak of color, a slow motion camera perched by the line captures the footage as the cars speed by.

Both cars skidding and drifting to a stop, smoke flowing out from under the tires with a mix of dust.

Both teams seem to exit the cars in a hurry, throwing their doors shut.

Ranboo nearly falls out onto the ground but Quackity catches his arm before he does so.

**_“THAT’S A PHOTO FINISH EVERYONE, LET’S SEE WHO IT’S GOING TO BE!”_ ** Karl all but screams barely able to contain himself anymore as they all stare up at the projector. 

Everyone stares up in silence as the projector flashes with a transition color to the slow-mo camera footage.

Clearly depicted is both cars slowly powering towards the line, and even through all the dust and smoke shrouding the view of the camera, it is clear.

Both Dream and Tommy’s cars crossed the finish line at the same time.

The crowd erupts in screams, as everyone stares at the projector mouth open, Tommy and Dream lock eyes once again.

**_“A TIE?!”_ ** Karl in his adrenaline rush takes the head set off of his head and chucks it, freezing when he realizes what he's done. Sheepishly grinning and apologizing when Eret gives him a look of disdain. 

“What do we even do in the event of a tie Niki?” Karl clears his throat looking at Niki trying to ignore the glare Eret is giving him from throwing the expensive equipment.

Niki smiles,  **_“Well Karl it seems that we will be crowning two champions today, and we’ll split the prize money even between the two victors. So our winners are both Dream and Tommy! Congratulations you two, well done!”_ **

Roars explode in the crowd as both Tommy and Dream blink at each other.

Tommy feels a pair of arms wrap around him, he turns slightly to see Tubbo hugging him from behind.

“We did it Toms! Well it’s not a full win, but you still tied with Dream!” the shorter man says with a smile.

Tommy blinks letting things settle for a moment, before grinning back at his best friend and returning the hug. “I couldn’t without you, thanks for putting up with me Toby..” Tommy mumbles back to him. 

Tubbo laughs and nods, “Anytime, but let’s not race Dream again for awhile okay?”

Tommy hums in agreement, looking where Ranboo is staring appreciatively at the track.

“Finally sweet solid ground! I am never doing that again, don't even think about asking!” Ranboo points a finger at the three men who raise their hands in defense.

“I suppose that's fair..” Tommy says with a chuckle. 

Quackity throws an arm around Ranboo, “Hey look at the bright side! At least you can say you’ve driven in the car with the new syndicate champion Tommyinnit!!” he laughs reaching over to poke Tommy in the side, the younger man bats his hand away with a chuckle. 

“Hey Tommy.” Tommy turns his head to see Dream standing in front of him. He takes a step back looking up at the masked man with a scowl. “What do you want dickhead?!” 

Dream blinks down at him looking unphased by the kid’s yelling, “I just wanted to come and say that was a good race. I haven’t been challenged like that in a long time and I did give you a pretty hard time out there..You were a decent opponent, you know your stuff kid..” he extends a hand out to Tommy. 

Tommy blinks in slight surprise, everyone else’s mouths fall open. Dream was never one to compliment anyone who was not a close friend of his, nevermind actually say someone was good. 

Tommy looks down at the hand before looking back up at Dream, he’s silent for a moment but he reaches up and shakes his hand, an evil grin finding a way onto his face. 

“Thank you..but don’t think I’ve forgotten that you literally tried to kill me, I am  _ so _ keying your ugly ass car later.” the blonde says like it’s a promise, not a statement. 

Dream snorts, “Right...whatever you say Tommy..” he raises an eyebrow.

“DREAM!” both boys look up to see a very angry looking Wilbur Soot and Technoblade approaching. 

“Wil, Tech!” Tommy says backing up in slight fear as his brothers walk over. “Look I know you two are probably mad but-” he’s cut off when Wilbur reaches over and pulls Tommy behind him. The blonde stares up in confusion at his brother until Techno walks past him, his eyes widen slightly, “Techno-” Tommy tries but Wilbur shushes him.

“Techno, Wilbur, how did you enjoy the race-” Dream starts but is silenced by a deck to the face. The crowd ooos as Techno stands over Dream as he holds his face, Wilbur doesn’t even give Dream time to get up before he attacks and starts throwing punches of his own.

“HEY HEY STOP!” the crowd starts to shift around them and Tommy barely registers his friends flying past him until there's a hand on his shoulder snapping him out of his thoughts.

Tommy looks up to see Sam standing next to him, “Did you watch?” he asks Sam with a grin, choosing not to acknowledge the fight happening in front of him.

Sam smiles at him slightly, “I did and I’m very proud of you but uh-” the green haired man looks up as Sapnap is making attempts to pull Dream away while Skeppy, Ponk, Punz, and Bad try to hold back Techno and Wilbur. “You should probably stop your siblings before they murder Dream..I have the urge to kill him myself but seems like he’s already taking a serious beating anyways.” 

Tommy nervously laughs, watching as George looks from the side with an irritated expression on his face, “Yeah I probably should…” he says though he doesn’t move from his spot.

Sam studies him for a moment before smiling, “You’re scared huh?” he asks softly, keeping his voice low so no one else around them can hear because he knows it will embarrass Tommy.

Tommy’s head snaps over to him, opening his mouth to protest but when he looks at Sam’s expression he just finds he doesn’t have the energy to lie. “How did you know?..” he asks in more of a mumble.

Sam grins and shrugs nonchalantly, “To be honest you’ve hung around my shop so much I think I just know you well kid.” he reaches up to affectionately ruffle Tommy’s hair causing the younger man to make offended noises and attempt to bat the mechanic’s hand away.

“Look they aren’t angry at you if that’s what you're thinking...Well I mean they were, but I talked to them and managed to calm them down a bit, though Dream as you can see riled them back up..” Sam grimaces.

Tommy blinks up at Sam, “You did?...Thanks Sam..” he says with a slight smile.

Sam grins back at him, “No problem kid..I think they honestly just want to talk to you, they miss you believe it or not, apparently you haven't seen them that much..” 

Tommy sheepishly scratches his neck looking a bit ashamed, “Yeah...I’ve just been so consumed with racing but to be honest I didn’t think they wanted to talk to me..”

Sam frowns at him and shakes his head, “Tommy they are your brothers..they are honestly just concerned about you, they actually wanted to hang out tonight but I’ll let them tell you about that. Seriously, I think if you talk to them you’d be surprised.” 

Tommy nods quietly and looks back at the fight with a sigh, “Yeah..Yeah you’re right...fuck’s sake Sam ignoring my problems would be so much easier if you weren’t here..” he snorts.

Sam laughs slightly and shoos him off towards his brothers, “Whatever you say kiddo, I’m going to go talk to them now. Call if you need me, I’ll kick ass.” he says as he turns to walk over to where Niki and Eret stand, chatting with Tubbo, Quackity, Karl, and Ranboo. He pauses in his steps for a moment, “Oh and Tommy?” Sam calls back to him.

Tommy turns to look over to the mechanic, “Yeah Sam?” he asks curiously.

“You and I do need to talk later, don’t think I didn’t see that part where you nearly flew through the windshield.” Sam shoots him a stern look that makes Tommy sweat. 

“UH- I’m gonna get going now Sam I’ll see you later!” the younger man says rushing off towards the fight, “Uh huh, you better run, I will not forget about this!” Sam grins as he continues back to where he was off to.

Tommy smiles slightly and walks into the fray, by the time he gets over there Techno has a fist full of Dream’s hoodie and is threatening him. “If you EVER put my brother in danger like that again I will fucking break you like a stick, I don’t give a fuck about any kind of deal we had-”

Tommy reaches up to grab his brother’s arm, It causes everyone to look over at him with both relief and cringes. “That’s enough Tech, come on let him go..” the blonde says, giving Techno a pleading expression.

Techno snarls looking back at Dream, Tommy thinks for a moment his older brother might punch him again but fortunately he sighs and lets go of his hoodie.

Dream presses his sleeve up to his nose which is now profusely bleeding, “I guess I deserved that..'' he says, picking up his mask from the floor as the thing flew off in the fight.

“It would have been great if someone had told you this was going to happen- oh wait, I did.” George says walking over to grab Dream and Sapnap by the arm to drag them away with a roll of his eyes. 

Tommy shakes his head and looks over to his friends who are still frozen in place holding onto his brothers, “alright guys you can let them go.” he says with a smirk.

Skeppy, Bad, Ponk, and Punz release Wilbur and Techno, “Alright let’s give them a sec? We have bets to settle anyways, but congrats Tom, I have now lost 200 to this idiot.” Punz says with a sigh while Ponk grins under his mask patting Tommy on the shoulder as he walks by.

Bad shoots Tommy a warm grin as he walks away while Skeppy narrows his eyes at Wilbur and Techno, mouthing a “goodluck” to Tommy before he jogs to catch up with Bad.

“Fucking prick.” Wilbur grumbles as he rubs his knuckles which will most likely bruise, he’s not exactly much of a fighter.

Techno on the other hand does not seem to care about the state of his hands which are now covered in Dream’s blood.

“Yeah he’s a real piece of shit..” Tommy replies softly, finding himself not able to meet his brother’s eyes.

It’s silent for a moment, none of them seem to know how to breach this conversation, so Tommy takes a deep breath and decides he’s going to have to start. “You two are probably not happy with me, I know I lied to you two but-” he’s silenced by Wilbur pulling him into his arms in a tight embrace. Tommy flinches but he returns the hug tightly, Techno joins them after a moment wrapping his arms around both Wilbur and Techno.

“You worried the hell out of me..” Wilbur mumbles into Tommy’s hair, keeping his arms tightly wrapped around his brother like he’ll just vanish from his arms.

“Make that both of us..” Techno says softly, looking down at Tommy with a surprisingly hurt expression.

Tommy chews on his lip with guilt written on his face, “I know I know...in my defence I didn’t know he was going to do those things, it’s usually not that risky..I got us out of it though?” he offers with a light nervous laugh looking down towards his shoes. 

Wilbur and Techno raise their eyebrows at him looking unimpressed, it makes Tommy frown more.

“I was going to tell you guys, I promise..I just wanted to wait awhile til I could figure out the right way and show you something I earned from it...that I’ve been saving my money so you would know I wasn’t wasting my time..” Tommy utters.

Both Wilbur and Techno’s expressions soften, “Tommy...I’m not exactly crazy about you doing this, it’s highly illegal and I worry about you getting hurt...but if it’s something you really enjoy you...you don’t need to try to prove yourself okay?” Techno attempts to search for the words he’s trying to convene.

Wilbur takes over for him sensing his brother’s struggle, Techno really was never the best at comforting people. “What Techno is trying to say is we’re really proud of you.”

Tommy looks up at those words, staring at his brothers as they smile at him gently. “I- really?...You're not just saying that?..”

Wilbur and Techno hate the way he asks with caution, like he feels like they are lying to him.

“Really theseus..despite how dangerous the activity is and you not telling us...You did really well out there, it looked pretty badass..” Techno offers him a nod.

Tommy grins, excitement flickering into his eyes, “Yeah?! I mean of course it did, I’m the best damn driver here.” He says in a way that makes Wilbur and Techno grin.  _ That’s the Tommy they know. _

“If I had known you could drive like that you would be driving us home everyday.” Wilbur teases.

Tommy beams even more, “I can if you want, though uh I have been giving Tubbo and Ranboo rides which by the way I do need to give them a ride home…” he says with a bit of a hesitant tone of voice.

“Great, more children to cart places.” Techno says with a snort when Tommy elbows him.

“So...are you guys gonna tell dad?..” the youngest asks barley above a whisper.

“No.” Wilbur starts making Tommy grin, “Because we’re making you tell him...there isn’t much of a rush, but you have to do it at some point okay?” Techno finishes. 

Tommy nods, “Yeah that’s fair, I was going to tell him when I told you two but I guess Dream took care of that for me..” the blonde says with a bit of bitterness in his voice.

Techno wipes his hands on his pants, “Yeah and we took care of Dream so it’s no big deal..” the pink haired man says with a shrug that causes Tommy and Wilbur to laugh.

Wilbur lets go of Tommy but keeps an arm around him, “We were planning on picking you up from work and doing a movie night...so now that your ‘work’ is over, do you want to do that? We already bought snacks. Techno’s credit card paid very dearly, it would be a shame if they went to waste.” Wilbur offers lightly.

Tommy grins, “usually we hang out and party after a huge race like this but yeah...yeah I’d like that..Just let me let Niki know so I can pick up my half of the money and let her know I’m leaving” a genuine smile on his face at the idea of having the family time they didn’t get to have in the past couple months.

Techno smiles slightly and gestures for them to start walking, “Cool, we should get the rest of your friends and get going through before dad beats us home, then you’ll really have to explain yourself.” 

The three Watson kids start walking back towards the crowd and Tommy’s car with smiles on their faces, their brotherly bond mended. It wasn’t perfect, and things still definitely needed to be fixed between them, but it was a start.

  
“Hey by the way, were you not wearing your seat belt earlier?..”

“...Let’s just get going”

When Dream came out a couple days later to his car, he was welcomed by a crudely scratched  _ ‘ _ **_SUCK IT GREEN BOI’_ ** that had been keyed into the side of his vehicle. Dream couldn’t help the grin that found its way onto his face. 

_ Fucking Tommyinnit _

This wasn’t going to be the last time he crossed paths with Tommy as opponents, but the next time, there was not going to be a tie.  _ He would make sure of it. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I was thinking about making a headcanon book for content for this while I work on other things too until my next addition to the series (which is coming soon) Let me know what you all think!
> 
> Thank you guys for the immense support with this AU :D


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